Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains harbouring an unusual blaVIM-4 gene cassette isolated from hospitalized children in Poland (1998-2001)

Abstract

An unusual bla(VIM-4) M beta L has become endemic in P. aeruginosa isolates infecting Polish children hospitalized on surgical wards. The formation of this unusual bla(VIM-4) gene cassette could be explained by a mechanism involving deletion of a segment of an ancestral tandem repeat of bla(VIM-4) via slipped strand replication, mediated by a combination of polymerase and integrase.