The Staphylococcus aureus transposon Tn551: complete nucleotide sequence and transcriptional analysis of the expression of the erythromycin resistance gene.
The complete nucleotide sequence of Staphylococcus aureus transposon Tn551 was determined. The 5,266-bp sequence encoded five putative proteins. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of Tn551 with that of the enterococcal transposon Tn917 showed that the two transposons were 99.8% identical and differed only at 11 positions along the entire sequence. The genetic organization of Tn551 was also identical to that of Tn917. Northern analysis of RNA prepared from a staphylococcal strain bearing Tn551 displayed three erm-associated transcripts that were constitutively produced. Mapping of the 5' ends of the transcripts by primer extension suggested that the constitutive transcription of erm was initiated from a nucleotide located 5 bp downstream of ORF1. A second set of three erythromycin-inducible transcripts was also detected and these showed a pattern similar to that described for Tn917. A simple and rapid method is described for the use of the Tn551 sequence information in sequencing transposon-inactivated staphylococcal genes.
Wu
S W
SW
Laboratory of Microbiology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
de Lencastre
H
H
Tomasz
A
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004917:Erythromycin