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Volume 9, Issue 7

There are three major β-lactamase plasmid variants which are associated with specific lineages and carry distinct TEM alleles Open Access

Abstract

is a significant threat to global health with an estimated incidence of over 80 million cases each year and high levels of antimicrobial resistance. The gonococcal β-lactamase plasmid, p, carries the TEM β-lactamase, which requires only one or two amino acid changes to become an extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL); this would render last resort treatments for gonorrhoea ineffective. Although p is not mobile, it can be transferred by the conjugative plasmid, pConj, found in . Seven variants of p have been described previously, but little is known about their frequency or distribution in the gonococcal population. We characterised sequences of p variants and devised a typing scheme, Ng_pST that allows their identification from whole genome short-read sequences. We implemented Ng_pST to assess the distribution of p variants in 15 532 gonococcal isolates. This demonstrated that only three p variants commonly circulate in gonococci, which together account for >99 % of sequences. The p variants carry different TEM alleles and are prevalent in distinct gonococcal lineages. Analysis of 2758 p-containing isolates revealed the co-occurrence of p with certain pConj types, indicating co-operativity between p and pConj variants in the spread of plasmid-mediated AMR in . Understanding the variation and distribution of p is essential for monitoring and predicting the spread of plasmid-mediated β-lactam resistance in .

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Neisseria gonorrhoeae , Ng_pblaST , pbla , plasmid typing , TEM-1 , TEM-135 and β-lactamase
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Wellcome Trust (Award 221924/Z/20/Z)
    • Principle Award Recipient: ChristophM Tang
  • Wellcome Trust (Award 214374/Z/18/Z)
    • Principle Award Recipient: ChristophM Tang
© 2023 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2023-07-12
2024-04-27
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There are three major Neisseria gonorrhoeae β-lactamase plasmid variants which are associated with specific lineages and carry distinct TEM alleles
M Gen 9, 001057 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001057
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