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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Production of beta-lactamases of one of four molecular classes (A, B, C and D) is the major mechanism of bacterial resistance to beta-lactams, the largest class of antibiotics, which have saved countless lives since their inception 70 years ago. Although several hundred efficient class D enzymes have been identified in Gram-negative pathogens over the last four decades, none have been reported in Gram-positive bacteria. Here we demonstrate that efficient class D beta-lactamases capable of hydrolyzing a wide array of beta-lactam substrates are widely disseminated in various species of environmental Gram-positive organisms. Class D enzymes of Gram-positive bacteria have a distinct structural architecture and employ a unique substrate-binding mode that is quite different from that of all currently known class A, C and D beta-lactamases. These enzymes thus constitute a previously unknown reservoir of novel antibiotic-resistance enzymes.

Class D beta-lactamases do exist in Gram-positive bacteria.,Toth M, Antunes NT, Stewart NK, Frase H, Bhattacharya M, Smith CA, Vakulenko SB Nat Chem Biol. 2015 Nov 9. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1950. PMID:26551395^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.