title: A spontaneous point mutation in the single 23S rRNA gene of the thermophilic arachaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius confers multiple drug resistance.
abstract: Development of transformable vectors for thermophilic archaea requires the characterization of appropriate selectable marker genes. Many antibiotic inhibitors of protein biosynthesis are known to bind to rRNA; therefore, we screened 14 for their capacity to inhibit growth of the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Carbomycin, celesticetin, chloramphenicol, puromycin, sparsomycin, tetracycline, and thiostrepton all inhibited growth by different degrees. Spontaneous drug-resistant mutants were isolated from plates containing celesticetin or chloramphenicol. Six mutants from each plate exhibited a C-2585-to-U transition in the peptidyl transferase loop of 23S rRNA (corresponding to C-2452 in Escherichia coli 23S rRNA). The single-site mutation also conferred resistance to carbomycin. The mutated 23S rRNA gene provides a potentially useful and dominant marker for a thermophilic archael vector.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Copenhagen University, Denmark.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aagaard
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trevisanato
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Garrett
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D007933:Leucomycins / Q000494:pharmacology; D008034:Lincomycin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D055231:Lincosamides; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D017354:Point Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011691:Puromycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics*; D013033:Sparsomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D016945:Sulfolobus acidocaldarius / Q000235:genetics*; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D013883:Thiostrepton / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007933:Leucomycins; D055231:Lincosamides; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S; C059423:carbomycin; D011691:Puromycin; D002701:Chloramphenicol; D013033:Sparsomycin; C004650:celesticetin A; D008034:Lincomycin; D013752:Tetracycline; D013883:Thiostrepton