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- Drug resistance in Chromobacterium violaceum
- Fabiana Fantinatti-Garboggini1, Rosana de Almeida2, Vinícius do Amaral Portillo1,
- Tércio A.P. Barbosa1, Peterson Beltramini Trevilato2, Cícero Eduardo Ramalho Neto3, Rosângela Duarte Coêlho4, Denise Wanderlei Silva5, Luciana Aparecida Bartoleti2,
- Ebert Seixas Hanna2, Marcelo Brocchi2 and Gilson P. Manfio1
- 1Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas,
- Divisão de Recursos Microbianos, Universidade Estadual de Campinas,
- Caixa Postal 6109, 13081-970 Campinas, SP, Brasil
- 2Departamento de Biologia Celular, Molecular e Bioagentes Patogênicos,
- Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo,
- Rua dos Bandeirantes, 3900, 14049-900 Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
- 3Laboratório de Genética Molecular, Genômica e Proteômica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas,
- Campus Delza Gitaí, km 85, BR 104 Norte, 57100-000 Rio Largo, AL, Brasil
- 4Setor de Virologia, Laboratório de Imunopatologia Keizo Asami - Lika,
- Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 50670-901 Cidade Universitária,
- Recife, PE, Brasil
- 5Departamento de Patologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Alagoas,
- Praça Afrânio Jorge, Prado, 57010-020 Maceió, AL, Brasil
- Corresponding author: G.P. Manfio
- E-mail: gmanfio@cpqba.unicamp.br
- Genet. Mol. Res. 3 (1): 134-147 (2004)
- Received October 13, 2003
- Accepted January 12, 2004
- Published March 31, 2004
ABSTRACT. Chromobacterium violaceum is a free-living bacterium commonly found in aquatic habitats of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This bacterium is able to produce a large variety of products of biotechnological and pharmacological use. Although C. violaceum is considered to be non-pathogenic, some cases of severe infections in humans and other animals have been reported. Genomic data on the type strain ATCC 12472T has provided a comprehensive basis for detailed studies of pathogenicity, virulence and drug resistance genes. A large number of open reading frames associated with various mechanisms of drug resistance were found, comprising a remarkable feature of this organism. Amongst these, beta-lactam (penicillin and cephalosporin) and multidrug resistance genes (drug efflux pumps) were the most numerous. In addition, genes associated with bacitracin, bicyclomycin, chloramphenicol, kasugamycin, and methylenomycin were also found. It is postulated that these genes contribute to the ability of C. violaceum to compete with other bacteria in the environment, and also may help to explain the common drug resistance phenotypes observed in infections caused by this bacterium.
Key words: Antibiotics, Resistance, Chromobacterium violaceum
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