Acinetobacter bereziniae (formerly Acinetobacter genomospecies 10) isolate Nec was recovered from a skin sample of a patient hospitalized in Paris, France. It was resistant to penicillins, penicillin-inhibitor combinations, and carbapenems. Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli identified the carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D -lactamase OXA-229, which is weakly related to other oxacillinases (66% amino acid identity with the closest oxacillinase, OXA-58). It hydrolyzed penicillins, oxacillin, and imipenem but not expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. Sequencing of the genetic context of the bla OXA-229 gene did not identify an insertion sequence but did identify mutations in the promoter sequences in comparison to the fully susceptible A. bereziniae reference strain. The overexpression of bla OXA-229 in A. bereziniae Nec as a source of carbapenem resistance was identified by quantitative real-time PCR.A cinetobacter bereziniae, formely Acinetobacter genomospecies 10, was described as a new species of the genus Acinetobacter on the basis of DNA-DNA hybridization in 1986 by Bouvet et Grimont (1). A. bereziniae is a Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, oxidase-negative, and nonmotile coccobacillus (15). A. bereziniae was found to be responsible for health care-associated infections, including severe sepsis in an immunocompromised patient (12). Previous reports of -lactamase-mediated resistance to carbapenems in A. bereziniae were related to the production of metallo--lactamases, namely, IMP-1, SIM-1, and VIM-2 (14, 16).Some bacterial species naturally carry class D -lactamase genes within their genome (22). In Acinetobacter species, intrinsically chromosomal genes encoding carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D -lactamases (CHDLs) have been identified. Acinetobacter species A. baumannii naturally harbors bla OXA-51 -like genes, A. radioresistens harbors bla OXA-23 -like genes, and A. lwoffii bla and recently A. johnsonii, A. calcoaceticus, and A. haemolyticus have been shown to harbor bla OXA-211 -like, bla OXA-213 -like, and bla OXA-214 -like genes, respectively (4,6,9,19) (Fig. 1). Characterization of those naturally occurring CHDL-encoding genes provides additional tools for identification of Acinetobacter species.The present study was initiated by the isolation of two imipenem-nonsusceptible and non-baumannii Acinetobacter species.
MATERIALS AND METHODSBacterial strains and plasmids. Identification of A. bereziniae isolates Nec and Baz was performed by using the API 32GN system (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) and was confirmed by 16S rRNA and partial rpoB gene sequencing, as described previously (7, 11). Reference strain Escherichia coli TOP10 was used as a host for clonings. A. bereziniae strain CIP70.12, isolated from a human wound in 1970, was used as the reference strain (15).MIC determinations. The antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the clinical and reference strains were determined by the agar dilution method, and the results were interpreted according to CLSI guidelines (2). MICs of cephalosporins and...