Detection of methyltransferases conferring high-level resistance to aminoglycosides in enterobacteriaceae from Europe, North America, and Latin America

The alteration of ribosomal targets by recently described 16S rRNA methyltransferases confers resistance to most aminoglycosides, including arbekacin. Enterobacteriaceae and nonfermentative bacilli acquired through global surveillance programs were screened for the presence of these enzymes on the basis of phenotypes that were resistant to nine tested aminoglycosides. Subsequent molecular studies determined that 20 of 21 (95.2%) methyltransferase-positive isolates consisted of novel species records or geographic occurrences (North America [armA and rmtB], Latin America [rmtD], and Europe [armA]; rmtA, rmtC, and npmA, were not detected). The global emergence of high-level aminoglycoside resistance has become a rapidly changing event requiring careful monitoring.