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. 1986 Feb;29(2):212–215. doi: 10.1128/aac.29.2.212

An animal source for the ROB-1 beta-lactamase of Haemophilus influenzae type b.

A A Medeiros, R Levesque, G A Jacoby
PMCID: PMC176379  PMID: 3487284

Abstract

The most common cause of ampicillin resistance in Haemophilus influenzae type b is production of TEM-1 beta-lactamase; however, a novel enzyme with a similar substrate profile but a quite different isoelectric point has also been described. This beta-lactamase, designated ROB-1, has not been found previously in any other organism. In a survey of 46 ampicillin-resistant H. influenzae type b isolates, we found a second human isolate that produces ROB-1 and discovered that ampicillin-resistant isolates of the porcine pathogen Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae also produced ROB-1. In both Haemophilus species ROB-1 production was determined by plasmids that had considerable DNA sequence homology. However, the ROB-1 and TEM-1 beta-lactamase genes were not related. Our findings suggest that this form of ampicillin resistance has an animal reservoir and that conditions fostering its prevalence in animal strains may play a role in the spread of resistance to human pathogens.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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