Open AccessTransferable Multidrug-Resistance Plasmid Carrying a Novel Macrolide-Clindamycin Resistance Gene, erm (50), in Cutibacterium acnes
Author(s) -
Sae Aoki,
Keisuke Nakase,
Hidemasa Nakaminami,
Takeaki Wajima,
Nobuyuki Hayashi,
Hiromitsu Noguchi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.07
H-Index - 259
eISSN - 1070-6283
pISSN - 0066-4804
DOI - 10.1128/aac.01810-19
Subject(s) - clindamycin , 23s ribosomal rna , microbiology and biotechnology , propionibacterium acnes , plasmid , acne , multiple drug resistance , antibiotic resistance , biology , antibiotics , gene , genetics , rna , ribosome
Antimicrobial-resistant Cutibacterium acnes strains have emerged and disseminated throughout the world. The 23S rRNA mutation and erm (X) gene are known as the major resistance determinants of macrolides and clindamycin in C. acnes We isolated eight high-level macrolide-clindamycin-resistant C. acnes strains with no known resistance determinants, such as 23S rRNA mutation and erm (X), from different acne patients in 2008 between 2013 and 2015. The aim of this study was to identify the novel mechanisms of resistance in C. acnes Whole-genome sequencing revealed the existence of a plasmid DNA, denoted pTZC1 (length, 31,440 bp), carrying the novel macrolide-clindamycin resistance gene erm (50) and tetracycline resistance gene tet (W). pTZC1 was detected in all C. acnes isolates (eight strains) exhibiting high-level macrolide-clindamycin resistance, with no known resistance determinants (MIC of clarithromycin, ≥256 μg/ml; clindamycin, ≥256 μg/ml). Transconjugation experiments demonstrated that the pTZC1 was horizontally transferred among C. acnes strains and conferred resistance to macrolides, clindamycin, and tetracyclines. Our data showed, for the first time, the existence of a transferable multidrug-resistant plasmid in C. acnes Increased prevalence of this plasmid will be a great threat to antimicrobial therapy for acne vulgaris.