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Trimethoprim Resistance and Susceptibility Genes in Staphylococcus epidermidis
Author(s) -
Totake Kyoko,
Kobayashi Nobuharu,
Odaka Takeshi
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1998.tb02315.x
Subject(s) - staphylococcus epidermidis , biology , ecori , genetics , nucleic acid sequence , ecorv , gene , insertion sequence , plasmid , peptide sequence , sequence analysis , microbiology and biotechnology , staphylococcus aureus , transposable element , genome , bacteria
Genes encoding trimethoprim (TMP)‐resistant and ‐susceptible dihydrofolate reductases (DHFR) in Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated in Saitama Prefecture were compared with the TMP‐resistant DHFR gene of S. aureus, dfrA . The nucleotide sequences of TMP r and TMP S genes in five S. epidermidis isolates tested could be divided into three types: type 1, identical with the TMP r gene dfrA that had been found in S. aureus ; type 3, identical with the TMP s gene dfrC in S. epidermidis; and type 2, having only two nucleotide substitutions to dfrC with no amino acid change. TMP r isolates carried either one of the type 2 or type 3 sequences in addition to the type 1 sequence. A Southern hybridization analysis revealed that, in TMP r S. epidermidis , the type 1 sequence was located on a 5.5 kb Eco RI‐ Eco RV restriction fragment together with the sequence for the gentamicin (GM)‐resistant gene, while the type 2 or type 3 sequence was located on the 1.0 kb Eco RI‐ Eco RV fragment. No plasmid‐carrying dfrA ‐homologous sequence was detected in the S. epidermidis isolates we tested. These results suggest that the TMP r and GM r genes are closely linked and located on the chromosome in S. epidermidis isolated in Japan.