A novel tetracycline-resistant determinant, tet(U), is encoded on the plasmid pKq10 in Enterococcus faecium.
Nine tetracycline (Tc)-resistant clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium were screened for plasmid content using agarose gel electrophoresis. pKQ10, a 1.9-kb plasmid carrying a novel Tc resistance determinant, was isolated from one of the isolates. The nucleotide sequence of this plasmid revealed an open reading frame corresponding to an 11.8-kDa protein and containing 105 amino acid residues. There was some limited similarity between this protein and tet(M), tet(O), tet(Q), tet(S), tetB(P), and otr(A), which overlapped, but did not include, the consensus GTP-binding sequences. The low-level, Tc-resistant determinant of pKQ10, named tet(U), does not appear to correspond to any other known Tc resistance determinant.
Ridenhour
M B
MB
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Fletcher
H M
HM
Mortensen
J E
JE
Daneo-Moore
L
L
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015247:Deoxyribonuclease HindIII / Q000378:metabolism; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008911:Minocycline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013753:Tetracycline Resistance / Q000235:genetics*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015247:Deoxyribonuclease HindIII; D008911:Minocycline