Transferable amikacin resistance in Acinetobacter spp. due to a new type of 3'-aminoglycoside phosphotransferase.

Acinetobacter baumannii BM2580 resistant to kanamycin and structurally related antibiotics, including amikacin, was isolated from a clinical specimen. A phosphocellulose paper-binding assay and DNA annealing studies indicated that resistance to aminoglycosides in BM2580 was due to synthesis of a new type of 3'-aminoglycoside phosphotransferase. The gene conferring resistance to kanamycin-amikacin in this strain was carried by a 63-kilobase plasmid, pIP1841, self-transferable to A. baumannii, A. haemolyticus, and A. lwoffii but not to Escherichia coli. The aminoglycoside resistance gene of pIP1841 was cloned in E. coli, where it was expressed.