Carbapenem-Hydrolyzing GES-Type Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase in Acinetobacter baumannii ▿

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii isolate AP was recovered from a bronchial lavage of a patient hospitalized in Paris, France. A. baumannii AP was resistant to all β-lactams, including carbapenems, and produced the extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) GES-14, which differs from GES-1 by two substitutions, Gly170Ser and Gly243Ala. Cloning of the blaGES-14 gene followed by its expression in Escherichia coli showed that GES-14 compromised significantly the efficacy of all β-lactams, including cephalosporins, aztreonam, and carbapenems. The carbapenemase activity of purified GES-14 was confirmed by kinetic studies. The blaGES-14 gene was located into a class 1 integron structure and located onto a ca. 95-kb self-transferable plasmid. This study identified a very broad-spectrum β-lactamase in A. baumannii