Abstract
Restriction enzyme fingerprinting was applied to 72 transferable trimethoprim resistance plasmids to examine aspects of their epidemiology and molecular relatedness. These plasmids had previously been divided into 25 groups according to differences in mol. wts and in antimicrobial resistance determinants. Restriction enzyme fingerprinting allowed the plasmids to be further divided into 44 different groups. The groups based on molecular weight and resistance patterns often, but not invariably, corresponded with those based on restriction enzyme fingerprints. Some plasmids with the same mol. wt and resistance pattern had different digest fingerprints and conversely, although more rarely, plasmids which differed in molecular weight by as much as 10 MDa or in resistance pattern by one resistance marker, had indistinguishable fingerprints. The plasmids were initially divided into three broad categories according to which restriction enzymes gave fingerprints of 6-20 fragments. These categories differed in the molecular weights of the plasmids contained, the numbers of resistance markers, and the proportions of the plasmids which carried transposon Tn7. Some plasmids were more widespread and persistent than others with the same mol. wt and resistance pattern but with a different restriction enzyme fingerprint. Thus, application of this technique has shown the trimethoprim resistance plasmids studied to be more diverse than was indicated by determination of mol. wt and resistance pattern, and has indicated changes in the plasmid pool over the 3 years during which they were collected.