Abstract
Objectives: The objective of this research was to determine whether recombination occurs in class A ß-lactamases.
Methods: We performed 2 analysis of the observed and expected numbers of times that ß-lactamases from the TEM, SHV and CTX-M groups co-occurred. Additionally, we performed phylogenetic analysis to detect independent occurrences of silent mutations in blaTEM and blaSHV variants.
Results: We found that the distribution of co-occurring blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M alleles in clinical microbial populations is consistent with the regular occurrence of recombination among alleles within the groups. We also found that the distribution of silent mutations in blaTEM and blaSHV alleles is inconsistent with spontaneous point mutations.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that recombination has an important effect on the sequence evolution and population distribution of the alleles that encode class A ß-lactamases
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 256-259 |
Journal | Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- hong-kong
- spectrum
- enterobacteriaceae
- populations
- selection
- evolution
- strains