Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Distribution of β-Lactamase A (blaA) and β-Lactamase B (blaB) Genes in Enteropathogenic Yersinia Species

One hundred eighty-six strains of enteropathogenic Yersinia (Y.) enterocolitica of bioserotypes 2/O:5,27, 2/O:9, 3/O: 3, and 4/O:3 and 12 strains of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis of bioserotypes 1/O:1, 1/O:2, and 2/O:1 from different human (feces) and nonhuman (pig, pork, wild boar, monkey, chinchilla, mara, capybara, salad) sources collected in the years 1995-2009 were examined. Antimicrobial resistance patterns for 12 antimicrobial agents were generated using broth microdilution. The presence and characterization of the beta-lactamase genes blaA and blaB were studied using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), respectively. The expression of b-lactamase BlaA and BlaB was detected using double-disc diffusion. Y. enterocolitica strains showed resistance to ampicillin (92%), streptomycin (13%), and sulfamethoxazole (2%). Intermediate susceptibility to tetracycline was shown by two Y. enterocolitica strains. All Y. pseudotuberculosis strains were susceptible to all tested antimicrobial agents. Most (99%) of the Y. enterocolitica strains carried both b-lactamase genes. One strain of bioserotype 3/O:3 lacked both genes. In contrast, all Y. pseudotuberculosis strains carried neither of the b-lactamase genes. Homogeneity was detected in all blaA and blaB genes of Y. enterocolitica using PCR-RFLP. The majority (89%) of Y. enterocolitica strains expressed both b-lactamase enzymes, whereas none of the Y. pseudotuberculosis strains showed expression of either enzyme. Also, it seems that the resistance of Y. enterocolitica has not changed during the last years.