Summary
The plasmid-mediated β-lactamase in Branhamella catarrhalis (BRO-1), also occurring in Moraxella nonliquefaciens, differs from other known plasmid-mediated β-lactamases in Gram-negative bacteria regarding substrate profile and isoelectric point.
B. catarrhalis strains previously reported to produce β-lactamases deviating from BRO-1 were tested, and the β-lactamases did not differ significantly from BRO-1 in substrate profile, isoelectric point or relative substrate affinity index (RSAI). Further investigations of strains of various geographic origin should be undertaken. RSAI seems to be a useful tool for screening of β-lactamases in B. catarrhalis since values for a large number of strains can easily be determined.
The previously reported conjugational transfer of BRO-1 production within species B. catarrhalis and from M. nonliquefaciens to B. catarrhalis was confirmed. Four bands of extrachromosomal DNA were regularly detected by agarose gel electrophoresis in β-lactamase-producing as well as in β-lactamase-negative strains of B. catarrhalis and M. non-liquefaciens, provided that the excessive nuclease activity in the preparations was inhibited.
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Kamme, C., Eliasson, I., Knutson, B.K. et al. Plasmid-Mediated β-Lactamase in Branhamella catarrhalis . Drugs 31 (Suppl 3), 55–63 (1986). https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-198600313-00013
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-198600313-00013