An Extended Reservoir of Class-D Beta-Lactamases in Non-Clinical Bacterial Strains
Valérian Lupo, Paola Sandra Mercuri, Jean‐Marie Frère, Bernard Joris, Moreno Galleni, Denis Baurain, Frédéric Kerff
Abstract
The transmission of genes coding for resistance factors from environmental to nosocomial strains is a major component in the development of bacterial resistance toward antibiotics. Our survey of class D beta-lactamase genes in genomic databases highlighted the high sequence diversity of the enzymes that are able to recognize and/or hydrolyze beta-lactam antibiotics. Among those, we could also identify new beta-lactamases that are able to hydrolyze carbapenems, one of the last resort antibiotic families used in human antimicrobial chemotherapy. Therefore, it can be expected that the use of this antibiotic family will fuel the emergence of new beta-lactamases into clinically relevant strains.