Characterization of CMY-type beta-lactamases in clinical strains of Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated in four hospitals in the Paris area.

We isolated five clinical strains (three Proteus mirabilis and two Klebsiella pneumoniae) with beta-lactam resistance phenotypes consistent with production of an AmpC-type beta-lactamase. The predicted amino acid sequences of the enzymes were typical of class C beta-lactamases. The enzymes were identified as CMY-2, CMY-4 and a new CMY-variant beta-lactamase, CMY-12. The AmpC beta-lactamases from the two K. pneumoniae isolates were found to be encoded on self-transferable plasmids. The genes encoding the AmpC-type beta-lactamase produced by the three P. mirabilis isolates were chromosomal. Four of the five clinical isolates were from patients transferred from Greece, Algeria and Egypt; one of the K. pneumoniae strains was recovered from a French patient. PFGE analysis and rep-PCR fingerprinting showed that the two P. mirabilis isolates from Greek patients were closely related.