OXA-16, a Further Extended-Spectrum Variant of OXA-10 β-Lactamase, from Two Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates

Two extended-spectrum mutants of the class D β-lactamase OXA-10 (PSE-2) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained in Ankara, Turkey, were described previously and were designated OXA-11 and -14. P. aeruginosa 906 and 961, isolated at the same hospital, were highly resistant to ceftazidime (MIC ≥ 128 μg/ml) and produced a β-lactamase with a pI of 6.2. The MICs of ceftriaxone, cefoperazone, cefsulodin, and cefepime were 4- to 16-fold above the typical values for P. aeruginosa, whereas the MICs of penicillins and cefotaxime were raised only marginally. Ceftazidime MICs were not significantly reduced by clavulanate or tazobactam at 4 μg/ml. Ceftazidime resistance did not transfer conjugatively but was mobilized to P. aeruginosa PU21 by plasmid pUZ8. Both isolates gave similar DNA restriction patterns, suggesting that they were replicates; moreover, they yielded identically sized BamHI fragments that hybridized with a bla(OXA-10) probe. DNA sequencing revealed that both isolates had the same new β-lactamase, designated OXA-16, which differed from OXA-10 in having threonine instead of alanine at position 124 and aspartate instead of glycine at position 157. The latter change is also present in OXA-11 and -14 and seems critical to ceftazidime resistance. Kinetic parameters showed that OXA-16 enzyme was very active against penicillins, cephaloridine, cefotaxime, and ceftriaxone, but hydrolysis of ceftazidime was not detected despite the ability of the enzyme to confer resistance.