FIG 5.

bla_KPC gene variant phenotypes expressed in Escherichia coli. MICs were measured by Etest and MicroScan for carbapenems (imipenem [IMI] and meropenem [MEM]; blue bars) and ceftazidime (CAZ; yellow bars), ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA; red bars), and cefoxitin (FOX; green bars) antibiotics. Strains tested were TOP10 Escherichia coli transformed with bla_KPC variants cloned in pCR-Blunt II TOPO vector (ThermoFisher). TOP10 cells carrying the empty pTOPO vector were also tested for comparison. Phenotypic tests were also performed on pKpQIL transformants obtained by transformation of E. coli DH5α chemically competent recipient cells, using purified plasmid DNAs from strains 32, 24-2, 6, and 15 and from the multicopy ColRNAI plasmid carrying bla_KPC-3 obtained by transformation from strain 7 in DH5α recipient cells.