Complete sequence of a bla(KPC)-harboring cointegrate plasmid isolated from Escherichia coli.

Horizontal transfer of bla(KPC)-harboring plasmids contributes significantly to the inter- and intraspecies spread of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC). Here we report the complete nucleotide sequence of a bla(KPC)-harboring IncFIA plasmid, pBK32533, from Escherichia coli. pBK32533 is a cointegrate plasmid comprising of a 72-kb sequence identical to that of the nonconjugative pBK30661 plasmid plus an additional 170-kb element that harbors the genes for plasmid transfer. pBK32533 demonstrates how bla(KPC) can be spread from a nonconjugative plasmid through cointegration.