Reporting antimicrobial susceptibilities and phenotypes of resistance to vancomycin in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. clinical isolates: A nationwide proficiency study.

Introduction: The ability of Spanish microbiology laboratories to (a) determine antimicrobial susceptibility (AS), and (b) correctly detect the vancomycin resistance (VR) phenotype in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE) was evaluated.

Methods: Three VRE isolates representing the VanA (E.

Prevalence of quinolone resistance mechanisms in Enterobacteriaceae producing acquired AmpC β-lactamases and/or carbapenemases in Spain.

Background: Quinolone resistance in Enterobacteriaceae species has increased over the past few years, and is significantly associated to beta-lactam resistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of chromosomal- and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance in acquired AmpC β-lactamase and/or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates.

Methods: The presence of chromosomal- and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance mechanisms [mutations in the quinolone resistance determining region (QRDR) of gyrA and parC and qnr, aac(6')-Ib-cr and qepA genes] was evaluated in 289 isolates of acquired AmpC β-lactamase- and/or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae collected between February and July 2009 in 35 Spanish hospitals.

Role of connecting loop I in catalysis and allosteric regulation of human glucokinase.

Glucokinase (GCK, hexokinase IV) is a monomeric enzyme with a single glucose binding site that displays steady-state kinetic cooperativity, a functional characteristic that affords allosteric regulation of GCK activity. Structural evidence suggests that connecting loop I, comprised of residues 47-71, facilitates cooperativity by dictating the rate and scope of motions between the large and small domains of GCK. Here we investigate the impact of varying the length and amino acid sequence of connecting loop I upon GCK cooperativity.

The selection and use of sorghum (Sorghum propinquum) bacterial artificial chromosomes as cytogenetic FISH probes for maize (Zea mays L.).

The integration of genetic and physical maps of maize is progressing rapidly, but the cytogenetic maps lag behind, with the exception of the pachytene fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) maps of maize chromosome 9. We sought to produce integrated FISH maps of other maize chromosomes using Core Bin Marker loci. Because these 1 Kb restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) probes are below the FISH detection limit, we used BACs from sorghum, a small-genome relative of maize, as surrogate clones for FISH mapping.

Evolutionary bases of carbohydrate recognition and substrate discrimination in the ROK protein family.

The ROK (repressor, open reading frame, kinase) protein family (Pfam 00480) is a large collection of bacterial polypeptides that includes sugar kinases, carbohydrate responsive transcriptional repressors, and many functionally uncharacterized gene products. ROK family sugar kinases phosphorylate a range of structurally distinct hexoses including the key carbon source D: -glucose, various glucose epimers, and several acetylated hexosamines. The primary sequence elements responsible for carbohydrate recognition within different functional categories of ROK polypeptides are largely unknown due to a limited structural characterization of this protein family.

[Comparative activity of ertapenem against extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing or plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae].

Introduction: The effect of porin loss and inoculum size on the comparative activity of ertapenem against either extended-spectrum beta lactamase-producing (ESBL) or plasmid-mediated AmpC beta lactamase-producing (pACBL) Klebsiella pneumoniae strains was evaluated.

Methods: Microdilution using 2 different bacterial inocula.

Results: Imipenem, amikacin, ertapenem, and cefepime were the most active agents under standard conditions.

The early evolution of the phosphagen kinases--insights from choanoflagellate and poriferan arginine kinases.

Arginine kinase (AK) is a member of a large family of phosphoryl transfer enzymes called phosphagen (guanidino) kinases. AKs are present in certain protozoans, sponges, cnidarians, and both lophotrochozoan and ecdysozoan protostomes. Another phosphagen kinase, creatine kinase (CK), is found in sponges, cnidarians, and both deuterostome and protostome groups but does not appear to be present in protozoans.

Activities of ABT-773 against Listeria monocytogenes and coryneform bacteria of clinical interest.

The in vitro activities of ABT-773 were evaluated against 15 Listeria monocytogenes strains and 196 coryneform bacteria isolated from clinical samples. One hundred percent of the L. monocytogenes strains were inhibited by View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Relationship between beta-lactamase production, outer membrane protein and penicillin-binding protein profiles on the activity of carbapenems against clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii.

Twenty blood isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii were studied, representing eight pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns and all different antimicrobial susceptibility patterns observed during 1995-97 at the University Hospital Virgen Macarena, Seville, Spain. The MIC(90)s (mg/L) of imipenem and meropenem decreased from 16 to 0.5 and from 8 to 4, respectively, in the presence of BRL 42715 (BRL) but not clavulanic acid.

Energy-dependent accumulation of norfloxacin and porin expression in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae and relationship to extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production.

The relationships between porin deficiency, active efflux of fluoroquinolones, and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production were determined for 53 clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Thirty-two ESBL-positive strains (including 22 strains expressing porins and 10 strains lacking porins) and 21 ESBL-negative strains were evaluated. Active efflux of norfloxacin was defined as a >/=50% increase in the accumulation of norfloxacin in the presence of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) in comparison with the corresponding basal value in the absence of CCCP.