Molecular characterization of bla(IMP-5), a new integron-borne metallo-beta-lactamase gene from an Acinetobacter baumannii nosocomial isolate in Portugal

Acinetobacter baumannii 65FFC, an imipenem-resistant clinical strain, isolated from the urine of a patient at the Coimbra University Hospital, Portugal, in 1998, produced a metallo-beta-lactamase with a calculated pI 9.3. The isolate was highly resistant to penicillins, broad-spectrum cephalosporins, including ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefepime, cefpirome, and to aztreonam, but it remained susceptible to ampicillin/sulbactam, aminoglycosides and quinolones. Nucleotide sequence revealed a new allelic variant of other bla(IMP) genes, named bla(IMP-5). IMP-5 beta-lactamase showed a greater homology with IMP-1, IMP-3 and IMP-4 (identified in Southeast Asia), than with IMP-2, found in Italy (93%, 92%, 91% and 87% of amino acid identity, respectively). bla(IMP-5) was the only gene cassette inserted into a class 1 integron, named In76. This is the first IMP-enzyme reported in Portugal and the second in Europe, indicating a wider dissemination in the environment of bla(IMP) alleles.