Open AccessCharacterization of Mobile Staphylococcus equorum Plasmids Isolated from Fermented Seafood That Confer Lincomycin Resistance
Author(s) -
Jong-Hoon Lee,
DoWon Jeong
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0140190
Subject(s) - plasmid , biology , lincomycin , microbiology and biotechnology , enterococcus faecalis , genetics , mobile genetic elements , gene , antibiotic resistance , escherichia coli , bacteria , antibiotics
The complete nucleotide sequences of lincomycin-resistance gene ( lnuA )-containing plasmids in Staphylococcus equorum strains isolated from the high-salt-fermented seafood jeotgal were determined. These plasmids, designated pSELNU1–3, are 2638-bp long, have two polymorphic sites, and encode typical elements found in plasmids that replicate via a rolling-circle mechanism including the replication protein gene ( rep ), a double-stranded origin of replication, a single-stranded origin of replication, and counter-transcribed RNA sequence, as well as lnuA . Plasmid sequences exhibit over 83% identity to other Staphylococcus plasmids that harbor rep and lnuA genes. Further, three pairs of identified direct repeats may be involved in inter-plasmid recombination. One plasmid, pSELNU1, was successfully transferred to other Staphylococcus species, Enterococcus faecalis , and Tetragenococcus halophilus in vitro. Antibiotic susceptibility of the transconjugants was host-dependent, and transconjugants maintained a lincomycin resistance phenotype in the absence of selective pressure over 60 generations.