Molecular characteristics of penicillin-binding protein 2b, 2x and 1a sequences in Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates causing invasive diseases among children in Northeast China.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the common pathogens causing severe invasive infections in children. This study aimed to investigate the serotype distribution and variations of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) 2b, 2x and 1a in S. pneumoniae isolates causing invasive diseases in Northeast China. A total of 256 strains were isolated from children with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) from January 2000 to October 2014. All strains were serotyped and determined for antibiotic resistance. The amplicons of penicillin-binding domains in pbp1a, pbp2b and pbp2x genes were sequenced for variation identification. The most prevalent serotypes of isolates in IPD children were 19A, 14, 19F, 23F and 6B. 19A and 19F were the most frequent serotypes of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae (PRSP), which present with high resistance to amoxicillin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone and meropenem. The numbers of amino acid substitutions of penicillin-non-susceptible S. pneumoniae (PNSP) isolates were higher than those of penicillin-sensitive S. pneumoniae isolates in all the PBP genes (p < 0.01). The patterns of amino acid mutation in PBP2b, PBP2x and PBP1a were unique and different from those of other countries. All of the serotype 19A and 19F PRSP isolates carried 25 amino acid mutations, including Ala618 → Gly between positions 560 and 675 in PBP2b and Thr338 → Ala substitutions in PBP2x. The amino acid alterations in PBP2b, PBP2x and PBP1a from S. pneumoniae were closely associated with resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. This study provides new data for further monitoring of genetic changes related to the emergence and spread of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in China.