Activities of Fluoroquinolones against Streptococcus pneumoniae Type II Topoisomerases Purified as Recombinant Proteins

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Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase have been purified from a fluoroquinolone-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae strain, from first-step mutants showing low-level resistance to ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, levofloxacin, and ofloxacin, and from two clinical isolates showing intermediate- and high-level fluoroquinolone resistance by a gene cloning method that produces recombinant proteins from Escherichia coli . The concentrations of ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, levofloxacin, or ofloxacin required to inhibit wild-type topoisomerase IV were 8 to 16 times lower than those required to inhibit wild-type DNA gyrase. Furthermore, low-level resistance to these fluoroquinolones was entirely due to the reduced inhibitory activity of fluoroquinolones against topoisomerase IV. For all the laboratory strains, the 50% inhibitory concentration for topoisomerase IV directly correlated with the MIC. We therefore propose that with S. pneumoniae , ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, levofloxacin, and ofloxacin target topoisomerase IV in preference to DNA gyrase. Sitafloxacin, on the other hand, was found to be equipotent against either enzyme. This characteristic is unique for a fluoroquinolone. A reduction in the sensitivities of both topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase are required, however, to achieve intermediate- or high-level fluoroquinolone resistance in S. pneumoniae .