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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
Screening Foodstuffs for Class 1 Integrons and Gene Cassettes
Published on: June 19, 2015
Detection and characterization of class 1 integrons among carbapenem-resistant isolates of Acinetobacter spp. in
Wong Eng Hwa1, Geetha Subramaniam, Parasakthi Navaratnam
1Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Background And Purpose:
To detect and characterize class 1 integrons among carbapenem-resistant strains of Acinetobacter spp. at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Methods:
Thirty nine carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter strains were obtained from UMMC from August 2003 to March 2004 and analyzed for the presence of bla(IMP) genes and class 1 integrons.
Results:
Class 1 integrons were detected in 31 of 39 strains. Two Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strains harbored an integron-borne bla(IMP-4) metallo-beta-lactamase, 1 of which was located on a 36-kb plasmid. Two different amplified products were found in the 31 isolates with 3 restriction pattern profiles 1, 2, and 3. Correlation was observed between carriage of class 1 integrons and genomic relatedness among these isolates, indicating that particular mechanisms of carbapenem resistance could have been acquired by genotypically distinct clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp.
Conclusion:
Although class 1 integrons are widely disseminated among clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. they do not play a major role in the spread of carbapenem resistance.
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