Sequences of small blaTEM-encoding plasmids in Haemophilus influenzae and description of variants falsely negative for blaTEM by PCR

Abstract

Small bla(TEM)-encoding plasmids in H. influenzae appear relatively conserved, but require further study to confirm this. PCR associated with the rep gene may be useful for studying these small plasmids. A deletion in part of bla(TEM) in some strains may interfere with some PCRs; therefore, care should be taken with primer selection or design and, preferably, regions within the open reading frame should be targeted.