Genetic bases of the rifampin resistance phenotype in Brucella spp.

ABSTRACT: Rifampin is one of the most potent and broad-spectrum antibiotics against bacterial pathogens. Its bactericidal activity is due to its ability to bind to the beta subunit of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase encoded by the rpoB gene. Mutations of the rpoB gene have been characterized in rifampin-resistant (Rif(r)) strains of Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The genetic bases of Rif(r) in Brucella spp. are still unknown. In the present study, the nucleotide sequences of the rpoB gene of the Rif(r) vaccine strain Brucella abortus RB51 and of 20 Rif(r) clones derived in our laboratory from two Brucella melitensis isolates were determined. These sequences were then compared to those of the respective rifampin-susceptible (Rif(s)) parental strains and to the published B. melitens

SUBMITTER: Marianelli C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC535235 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature