Aminoglycoside resistance gene ant(4′)-IIb of Pseudomonas aeruginosa BM4492, a clinical isolate from Bulgaria

The ant(4')-IIb gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa BM4492, which encodes an aminoglycoside 4'-O-adenylyltransferase, was identified as a coding sequence of 756 bp corresponding to a protein with a calculated mass of 27,219 Da. Analysis of the deduced sequence indicated that the protein was related to aminoglycoside 4'-O-adenylyltransferases IIa and Ia found in P. aeruginosa and gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The enzyme conferred resistance to amikacin and tobramycin but not to dibekacin, gentamicin, or netilmicin. The ant(4')-IIb gene had a chromosomal location in five of six clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa tested and was plasmid borne in the remaining strain. The ant(4')-IIb gene was detected by PCR in some clinical strains of P. aeruginosa from the same hospital but not in members of other bacterial genera.