title: Characterization of the tetracycline resistance gene of plasmid pT181 of Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Some genetic and biochemical properties of the tetracycline resistance element of the Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pT181 have been studied. Resequencing of a portion of the tetracycline resistance gene (tet) showed the presence of a single open reading frame of 1,299 nucleotides capable of encoding a polypeptide of 433 amino acids. Analysis of BAL 31 nuclease-generated deletion mutants of the tet gene showed the presence of two complementation groups within this region. Northern blot hybridizations demonstrated that the tet gene encodes a single mRNA, and its initiation site has been mapped by S1 nuclease protection experiments. We also identified an approximately 52,000-dalton tetracycline-inducible polypeptide in Bacillus subtilis minicells carrying pT181. Induction of the tet gene by tetracycline resulted in a 4-fold increase in the levels of TET mRNA and at least a 15-fold increase in the amount of TET protein in B. subtilis minicells.
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011815:R Factors; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics*; D013753:Tetracycline Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger