Characterization of pACK4, a mobilizable plasmid from Staphylococcus simulans biovar staphylolyticus.
Staphylococcus simulans biovar staphylolyticus, the lysostaphin-producing organism, contains five plasmids designated pACK1-pACK5. pACK4 was found to be relaxable and to share sequence similarity with a number of well-characterized mobilizable plasmids from other staphylococci. All mobilizable staphylococcal plasmids characterized to date mediate resistance to various antibiotics, but pACK4 is unique because it contains no recognizable antibiotic resistance genes. pACK4 was found to contain an origin of transfer (oriT) region that shares inverted repeat regions and the same nic site as several other mobilizable staphylococcal plasmids. The presence of this conserved oriT region suggested that pACK4 might be mobilized in the presence of a conjugative plasmid. Filter mating studies revealed that pACK4 was mobilized by the conjugative plasmid pGO1. In addition, pACK4 was found to be virtually identical to the recently described plasmid pVGA from Staphylococcus aureus, except that pVGA contains an additional region (vgaA) that confers resistance to pleuromutilin, streptogramin A, and lincosamide. The high sequence similarity among pACK4, pVGA, and several previously described mobilizable staphylococcal plasmids suggests a common origin for these plasmids.
Gargis
Amy S
AS
Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0334, USA.
Heath
Lucie S
LS
Heath
Harry E
HE
LeBlanc
Paul A
PA
Sloan
Gary L
GL
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D055231:Lincosamides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000235:genetics*; D025364:Streptogramin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D000097567:Pleuromutilins
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004224:Diterpenes; D055231:Lincosamides; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds; D025364:Streptogramin A; D000097567:Pleuromutilins