title: Characterization of the nonenzymatic chloramphenicol resistance (cmlA) gene of the In4 integron of Tn1696: similarity of the product to transmembrane transport proteins.
abstract: Integrons constitute a novel family of DNA elements which evolved by site-specific integration of discrete units between two conserved segments. On the In4 integron of Tn1696, a precisely inserted gene cassette of 1,549 bp conferring nonenzymatic chloramphenicol resistance (cmlA) is present between the streptomycin-spectinomycin resistance (aadA2) gene cassette and the 3'-conserved segment of the integron. In this study, we present the nucleotide sequence of the cmlA gene cassette of Tn1696, show its similarity to bacterial efflux systems and other transport proteins, and present evidence for alterations that its expression exerts on bacterial membranes. The cmlA gene cassette apparently carries its own promoter(s), a situation that has not heretofore been observed in the integrons of multiresistance plasmids and transposons of gram-negative bacteria. One or more of these promoters were shown to be functionally active in expressing a cat marker gene from promoter-probe vectors. The putative CmlA polypeptide appears to provoke a reduction of the content of the major porins OmpA and OmpC.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biochimie, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bissonnette
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Champetier
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Buisson
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Roy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002702:Chloramphenicol Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements