Distribution of Class 1 Integrons, sul1 and sul2 Genes Among Clinical Isolates of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging nosocomial pathogen responsible for serious human infections. This study was carried out to determine antibiotic susceptibility, resistance mechanisms (integrons, sul1 and sul2), and genetic relatedness (Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus [ERIC]-PCR) among 106 clinical isolates of S. maltophilia from India. Twenty-four (22.6%) of S. maltophilia isolates exhibited resistance to mainstay antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX). Except for 2 isolates which contained both TMP-SMX resistance determinants sul1 and sul2 genes, all other 22 TMP-SMX-resistant isolates carried either sul1 (10 isolates) or sul2 (12 isolates) genes. Class 1 integrons were present in 8.5% (9 out of 106) of S. maltophilia isolates, and only 5 out of these isolates were TMP-SMX resistant and positive for sul1 gene. The same isolates also carried resistance cassettes containing qac/smr gene. Minocycline and levofloxacin exhibited the maximum in vitro activity against S. maltophilia. ERIC-PCR revealed high diversity among S. maltophilia isolates. The present study demonstrated high (22.4%) TMP-SMX resistance in clinical isolates of S. maltophilia from India. TMP-SMX-resistant isolates carried relatively higher percentage of sul2 gene than sul1 gene as against the reported literature. Majority (58.3%) of sul1 gene positive were not associated with class 1 integrase gene.