R factor-mediated resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Conjugal transferability of drug resistance was examined, in eleven Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains which were isolated in Frankfurt. Four R factors were demonstrated from three strains using P. aeruginosa as recipients but they were nontransferable to Escherichia coli K12. Two R factors, i.e., Rms146 and Rms147, mediated resistances to tetracycline (TC), streptomycin (SM), sulfanilamide (SA), kanamycin (KM), lividomycin (LV), gentamicin C complex (GM) and 3', 4'-dideoxykanamycin B (DKB). They mediated the formation of aminoglycoside-inactivating enzymes, i.e., SM phosphotransferase, SM adenylyltransferase, KM and LV phosphotransferase l, and GM and DKB 6'-N-acetyltransferase. TC resistance conferred by these R factors was due to impermeability of the drug. P. aeruginosa Ps 142 carried two kinds of R factor in one cell, Rms148 (SM) and Rms149 (SM-SA-GM-CPC) (CPC, carbenicillin). Rms148 (SM) was transferable at a high frequency of 10-1 and mediated the formation of SM phosphotransferase. Rms149 mediated the formation of drug-inactivating enzymes, ie., GM 3-N-acetyltransferase and beta-lactamase, but did not inactivate SM. SM resistance was probably due to impermeability of the drug.