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Transduction of the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteriophage ?m46.1, carrying resistance genes mef(A) and tet(O), to other Streptococcus species.

ABSTRACT: ?m46.1 - Streptococcus pyogenes bacteriophage carrying mef(A) and tet(O), respectively, encoding resistance to macrolides (M phenotype) and tetracycline - is widespread in S. pyogenes but has not been reported outside this species. ?m46.1 is transferable in vitro among S. pyogenes isolates, but no information is available about its transferability to other Streptococcus species. We thus investigated ?m46.1 for its ability to be transduced in vitro to recipients of different Streptococcus species. Transductants were obtained from recipients of Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus gordonii, and Streptococcus suis. Retransfer was always achieved, and from S. suis to S. pyogenes occurred at a much greater frequency than in the opposite direction. In transductants ?m46.1 retained its functional properties, such as inducibility with mitomycin C, presence both as a prophage and as a free circular form, and transferability. The transductants shared the same ?m46.1 chromosomal integration site as the donor, at the 3' end of a conserved RNA uracil methyltransferase (rum) gene, which is an integration hotspot for a variety of genetic elements. No transfer occurred to recipients of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus oralis, and Streptococcus salivarius, even though rum-like genes were also detected in the sequenced genomes of these species. A largely overlapping 18-bp critical sequence, where the site-specific recombination process presumably takes place, was identified in the rum genes of all recipients, including those of the species yielding no transductants. Growth assays to evaluate the fitness cost of ?m46.1 acquisition disclosed a negligible impact on S. pyogenes, S. agalactiae, and S. gordonii transductants and a noticeable fitness advantage in S. suis. The S. suis transductant also displayed marked overexpression of the autolysin-encoding gene atl.

SUBMITTER: Giovanetti E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4288039 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Transduction of the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteriophage Φm46.1, carrying resistance genes mef(A) and tet(O), to other Streptococcus species.

Giovanetti Eleonora E Brenciani Andrea A Morroni Gianluca G Tiberi Erika E Pasquaroli Sonia S Mingoia Marina M Varaldo Pietro E PE

Frontiers in microbiology 20150108

Φm46.1 - Streptococcus pyogenes bacteriophage carrying mef(A) and tet(O), respectively, encoding resistance to macrolides (M phenotype) and tetracycline - is widespread in S. pyogenes but has not been reported outside this species. Φm46.1 is transferable in vitro among S. pyogenes isolates, but no information is available about its transferability to other Streptococcus species. We thus investigated Φm46.1 for its ability to be transduced in vitro to recipients of different Streptococcus species ...[more]

PMID: 25620959

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Project description:This study was directed at characterizing the genetic elements carrying the methylase gene erm(B), encoding ribosome modification-mediated resistance to macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B (MLS) antibiotics, in Streptococcus pyogenes. In this species, erm(B) is responsible for MLS resistance in constitutively resistant isolates (cMLS phenotype) and in a subset (iMLS-A) of inducibly resistant isolates. A total of 125 erm(B)-positive strains were investigated, 81 iMLS-A (uniformly tetracycline susceptible) and 44 cMLS (29 tetracycline resistant and 15 tetracycline susceptible). Whereas all tetracycline-resistant isolates carried the tet(M) gene, tet(M) sequences were also detected in most tetracycline-susceptible isolates (81/81 iMLS-A and 7/15 cMLS). In 2 of the 8 tet(M)-negative cMLS isolates, erm(B) was carried by a plasmid-located Tn917-like transposon. erm(B)- and tet(M)-positive isolates were tested by PCR for the presence of genes int (integrase), xis (excisase), and tndX (resolvase), associated with conjugative transposons of the Tn916 family. In mating experiments using representatives of different combinations of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics as donors, erm(B) and tet(M) were consistently cotransferred, suggesting their linkage in individual genetic elements. The linkage was confirmed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and hybridization studies, and different elements, variably associated with the different phenotypes/genotypes, were detected and characterized by amplification and sequencing experiments. A previously unreported genetic organization, observed in all iMLS-A and some cMLS isolates, featured an erm(B)-containing DNA insertion into the tet(M) gene of a defective Tn5397, a Tn916-related transposon. This new element was designated Tn1116. Genetic elements not previously described in S. pyogenes also included Tn6002, an unpublished transposon whose complete sequence is available in GenBank, and Tn3872, a composite element resulting from the insertion of the Tn917 transposon into Tn916 [associated with a tet(M) gene expressed in some cMLS isolates and silent in others]. The high frequency of association between a tetracycline-susceptible phenotype and tet(M) genes suggests that transposons of the Tn916 family, so far typically associated solely with a tetracycline-resistant phenotype, may be more widespread in S. pyogenes than currently believed.

Dataset Information

Transduction of the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteriophage ?m46.1, carrying resistance genes mef(A) and tet(O), to other Streptococcus species.

Publications

Transduction of the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteriophage Φm46.1, carrying resistance genes mef(A) and tet(O), to other Streptococcus species.

Similar Datasets

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