Transferable resistance to aminoglycosides by methylation of G1405 in 16S rRNA and to hydrophilic fluoroquinolones by QepA-mediated efflux in Escherichia coli

Plasmid pIP1206 was detected in Escherichia coli strain 1540 during the screening of clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae for high-level resistance to aminoglycosides. The sequence of this IncFI conjugative plasmid of ca. 100 kb was partially determined. pIP1206 carried the rmtB gene for a ribosome methyltransferase that was shown to modify the N7 position of nucleotide 61405, located in the A site of 16S rRNA. It also contained the qepA (quinolone effiux pump) gene that encodes a 14-transmembrane-segment putative efflux pump belonging to the major facilitator superfamily of proton-dependent transporters. Disruption of membrane proton potential by the efflux pump inhibitor carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone in a transconjugant harboring the qepA gene resulted in elevation of norfloxacin accumulation. The transporter conferred resistance to the hydrophilic quinolones norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin.