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Transferable plasmid-mediated resistance to streptomycin in a clinical isolate of Yersinia pestis

A Guiyoule1, G Gerbaud, C Buchrieser

  • 1Laboratoire des Yersinia, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris, France.

Emerging Infectious Diseases
|March 27, 2001
PubMed

Insights

A new Yersinia pestis strain resistant to streptomycin was found in Madagascar. This drug resistance, carried by a transferable plasmid, poses a significant public health threat for plague treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Antimicrobial Resistance

Background:

  • Plasmid-mediated high-level antibiotic resistance in Yersinia pestis was previously documented in Madagascar.
  • Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, a serious infectious disease.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To report the isolation and characterization of a second Yersinia pestis strain exhibiting high-level streptomycin resistance.
  • To investigate the genetic basis and transferability of this newly identified resistance.

Main Methods:

  • Isolation of Yersinia pestis from a human case of bubonic plague.
  • Plasmid analysis to identify resistance determinants.
  • Conjugation experiments to assess plasmid transferability.

Main Results:

  • A Yersinia pestis strain with high-level streptomycin resistance was isolated from a human case in Madagascar.
  • The resistance was mediated by a self-transferable plasmid.
  • This plasmid and host strain differed from previously identified multidrug-resistant Y. pestis.

Conclusions:

  • The emergence of streptomycin resistance in Yersinia pestis is a growing concern.
  • Acquisition of resistance plasmids is an ongoing process in Y. pestis populations.
  • This finding has critical implications for plague treatment, as streptomycin is a first-line antibiotic.

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