Overproduction of 3'-aminoglycoside phosphotransferase type I confers resistance to tobramycin in Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli HM69, isolated from urine, was resistant to high levels of kanamycin (MIC, > 1,000 micrograms/ml) and a low level of tobramycin (MIC, 8 micrograms/ml). Phosphocellulose paper-binding assays and molecular cloning indicated that resistance to both aminoglycosides was due to synthesis of a 3'-aminoglycoside phosphotransferase type I, an enzyme that phosphorylates kanamycin but not tobramycin. The structural gene for the enzyme was borne by an 80-kb conjugative plasmid, pIP1518, and was nearly identical to aphA1 of Tn903. Incubation of extracts of resistant cells with tobramycin or kanamycin led to a decrease (> 80%) of antibiotic activity as determined by a microbiological assay. Heat treatment showed that loss of activity was reversible and dependent upon the native enzyme. In the presence of ATP, only inactivation of kanamycin was reversible. These results suggest that resistance to low levels of tobramycin was due to formation of a complex between the enzyme and the antibiotic.