Abstract
Dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria, particularly in hospitals, has become a serious public health problem. Integrons impart antibiotic multidrug resistance in gram-negative and some gram-positive bacteria by capturing and then disseminating antibiotic resistance genes. This mechanism plays a major role in contributing to the alarmingly high prevalence of bacterial drug resistance. A universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer set was attempted to design to more sensitively and specifically detect integrons in environmental samples. One set, designated intCiF3a, intCiF3b, intCiiiR3a, and intCiiiR3b, simultaneously amplifies the conserved region of the tyrosine recombinase gene family between box I and box II. This primer set generates PCR products derived from classes 1, 2, and 3 integron integrases from environmental samples such as wastewater. An unexpected finding of this study was the detection of new putative integron integrase gene sequences. This is the subject of ongoing research, which aims to provide a clear understanding of the risk to human health posed by these genetic elements.
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Acknowledgments
The author is grateful to Dr. Yoshiyuki Ueno, Kajima Technical Research Institute (KaTRI), for reviewing the manuscript. The author also thanks Dr. Masahiro Tanaka of KaTRI for having given his continuous support and encouragement for the succesful completion of this study.
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Ishikawa, S. Simultaneous PCR Detection of Multiple Classes of Integron Integrase Genes for Determining the Presence of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Environmental Samples. Curr Microbiol 62, 1677–1681 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-011-9913-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-011-9913-5