title: Distribution of the ermG gene among bacterial isolates from porcine intestinal contents.
abstract: The ermG gene was first found in the soil bacterium Bacillus sphaericus. More recently, it was found in several human intestinal Bacteroides species. We report here the first finding of ermG genes in gram-positive bacteria isolated from porcine feces and from under-barn manure pits used to store porcine wastes. The porcine ermG sequences were identical to the sequence of the B. sphaericus ermG gene except that six of the seven ermG-containing strains contained an insertion sequence element insertion in the C-terminal end of the gene. The porcine ermG genes were found in three different gram-positive genera, an indication that it is possible that the gene is being spread by horizontal gene transfer. A segment of a Bacteroides conjugative transposon that carries an ermG gene cross-hybridized with DNA from six of the seven porcine isolates, but the restriction patterns in the porcine strains were different from that of the Bacteroides conjugative transposon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, B103 CLSL, 601 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Gui-Rong
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Nadja B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Shoemaker
authors.forename: Terence R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Abigail A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Salyers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003013:Clostridium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents / Q000382:microbiology*; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D013753:Tetracycline Resistance / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004917:Erythromycin; D013752:Tetracycline