Deoxyribonucleic acid sequence common to staphylococcal and streptococcal plasmids which specify erythromycin resistance

Abstract

Plasmids from erythromycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus snaguis and S. faecalis show DNA sequence homology. The homologous sequences can be localized to specific restriction endonuclease fragments, which in the case of S. aureus plasmid pI258 involves a single fragment from either EcoRI or HindIII digests known to contain the erythromycin resistance determinant. Complementary RNA probes prepared from S. aureus plasmid pI258 and S. sanguis plasmid pAM77 also hybridize to specific fragments in restriction endonuclease digests of DNA from erythromycin-resistant S. pyogenes and S. pneumoniae. A common origin for a class of erythromycin resistance determinants in unrelated strains of pathogenic bacteria was suggested for which exchange of genetic material was not demonstrated.