A NOVEL BETA-LACTAMASE PLASMID IN NEISSERIA-GONORRHOEAE

Over the past five decades, the use and abuse of antimicrobial agents has led to the development of strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae resista nt to one or more therapeutic agents. There are six reported beta-lact amase plasmids designated Asian, African, Toronto, Rio, Nimes and New Zealand which confer high-level penicillin resistance to N. gonorrhoea e strains. We report here the detection of a novel 2.2 MDa gonococcal beta-lactamase plasmid from a patient presenting with vaginal discharg e to an outpatient clinic at a hospital in Durban, South Africa. This strain was identified as beta-lactamase-producing by the nitrocefin te st, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing demonstrated high-level p enicillin resistance (MIC greater than or equal to 32 mu g mL(-1)). Tr ansformation and hybridisation studies using Escherichia coli DH5 alph a F' and a TEM1 560 bp probe confirmed it to be a novel gonococcal bet a-lactamase plasmid. The origin and homology of this 2.2 MDa 'Durban' plasmid to existing gonococcal beta-lactamase plasmids are not known a nd restriction endonuclease analyses are required to elucidate this in formation.