Detection of Phenazine Genes in Multi-Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates

Authors
F. Tutunchi 1
H. Zeighami 2
1 Department of Microbiology, Biology Research Center, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
2 Department of Microbiology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran
Abstract
Objective: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is an opportunistic pathogen with numerous virulence factors considered to be one of the most etiological agents in nosocomial infections. The emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa has become a serious, worldwide public health threat. This study intended to determine the frequency of phzM, phzS, phzH, phzI, and phzII genes in MDR P. aeruginosa strains isolated from clinical samples.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we examined 93 isolates of P. aeruginosa collected from different clinical samples in Zanjan during 1393-94. After identification of isolates by biochemical tests, we performed the antibiotic susceptibility test (Kirby-Bauer) per CLSI guidelines. Then, total DNA was extracted for PCR analysis to detect phzM, phzS, phzH, phzI, and phzII genes.
Results: P. aeruginosa isolates exhibited high-level resistance to Erythromycin and Cefoxitin (95.6%). Amikacin showed the highest activity against isolates with 73.2% susceptibility. There were 88 (94.6%) MDR isolates. The genes had the following frequency among MDR isolates: phzI (96.5%), phzII (93.1%), phzM (45.4%), phzS (27.2%), and phzH (27.2%).
Conclusion: The pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa is clearly multifactorial as shown by the large numbers of virulence factors and the broad spectrum of diseases this bacterium causes. The results indicated a greater frequency of phzI and phzII genes in MDR P. aeruginosa strains. This finding could be an alarm for the infections caused by this microorganism.

Keywords

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Pathobiology Reserach
Volume 19, Issue 1
May 2016
Pages 1-11