title: A novel erythromycin resistance methylase gene (ermTR) in Streptococcus pyogenes.
abstract: Erythromycin resistance among streptococci is commonly due to target site modification by an rRNA-methylating enzyme, which results in coresistance to macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B antibiotics (MLSB resistance). Genes belonging to the ermAM (ermB) gene class are the only erythromycin resistance methylase (erm) genes in Streptococcus pyogenes with MLSB resistance that have been sequenced so far. We identified a novel erm gene, designated ermTR, from an erythromycin-resistant clinical strain of S. pyogenes (strain A200) with an inducible type of MLSB resistance. The nucleotide sequence of ermTR is 82.5% identical to ermA, previously found, for example, in Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Our finding provides the first sequence of an erm gene other than ermAM that mediates MLSB resistance in S. pyogenes.
authors.affiliation: Antimicrobial Research Laboratory, National Public Health Institute, Turku, Finland. helena.seppala@utu.fi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seppälä
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skurnik
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Soini
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huovinen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004917:Erythromycin; C111078:ErmTR protein, bacteria; D008780:Methyltransferases