Molecular evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility: Tropheryma whipplei paradigm.

ABSTRACT: Tropheryma whipplei, the agent of Whipple's disease, grows fastidiously only in cell cultures without plaque production, and only three strains have been passaged. The formation of bacterial clumps in the supernatant precludes enumeration of viable bacteria and MIC determination. We evaluated the bacteriostatic effects of fluoroquinolones against two T. whipplei isolates by measuring the inhibition of the DNA copy number increase by real-time quantitative PCR. The analysis of the T. whipplei genome database allowed the identification not only of the gyrA gene but also the parC gene encoding the alpha subunit of the natural fluoroquinolone targets DNA gyrase (GyrA) and topoisomerase IV (ParC), respectively. The parC gene was detected in actinobacteria for the first time. High ciprofloxacin

SUBMITTER: Masselot F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC153328 | biostudies-literature | 2003 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature