Emergence of ceftriaxone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains harbouring a novel mosaic penA gene in China

Objectives The continuous emergence of ceftriaxone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains threatens the effectiveness of current treatment regimens for gonorrhoea. The objective of the present study was to characterize three ceftriaxone-resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains with a novel mosaic penA allele isolated in China. Methods Three ceftriaxone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains (GC150, GC161 and GC208) isolated in 2017 were characterized by N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST), MLST and N. gonorrhoeae sequence typing for antimicrobial resistance (NG-STAR). Recombination analyses were performed using the SimPlot software. Results Three strains had the same antibiotic resistance profiles, with resistance to ceftriaxone (MIC 0.5 mg/L), ciprofloxacin (MIC 8.0 mg/L), penicillin (MIC 2.0 mg/L) and tetracycline (MIC 2.0–8.0 mg/L). STs were assigned as MLST7360, NG-MAST14292 and NG-STAR1611/NG-STAR1612. The penA gene of these three strains differed from previous ceftriaxone-resistant gonococcal strains and harboured a novel mosaic allele (penA-121.001). Like N. gonorrhoeae FC428, a widely disseminated ceftriaxone-resistant strain that was initially described in Japan in 2015, all strains also possessed substitutions A311V and T483S in PBP2, which are associated with resistance to ceftriaxone. Potential recombination events were detected in penA between N. gonorrhoeae strain FC428 and commensal Neisseria species. Our results provide further evidence that the commensal Neisseria species (Neisseria cinerea and Neisseria perflava) can serve as a reservoir of ceftriaxone resistance-mediating penA sequences in clinical gonococcal strains. Conclusions The emergence of such strains may be the result of the interspecies recombination of penA genes between N. gonorrhoeae strain FC428 and commensal Neisseria species.

New Ceftriaxone- and Multidrug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae Strain with a Novel MosaicpenAGene Isolated in Japan

ABSTRACTWe have characterized in detail a new ceftriaxone- and multidrug-resistantNeisseria gonorrhoeaestrain (FC428) isolated in Japan in 2015. FC428 differed from previous ceftriaxone-resistant strains and contained a novel mosaicpenAallele encoding a new mosaic penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP 2). However, the resistance-determining 3′-terminal region ofpenAwas almost identical to the regions of two previously reported ceftriaxone-resistant strains from Australia and Japan, indicating that both ceftriaxone-resistant strains and conserved ceftriaxone resistance-determining PBP 2 regions might spread.