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Journal of Bacteriology, June 1999, p. 3368-3374, Vol. 181, No. 11
Unité des Agents Antibactériens,
Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
Received 19 October 1998/Accepted 3 April 1999
We determined the sequence and genetic organization of plasmid
pIP823, which contains the dfrD gene; dfrD
confers high-level trimethoprim resistance to Listeria
monocytogenes BM4293 by synthesis of dihydrofolate reductase type
S2. pIP823 possessed all the features of the pUB110/pC194 plasmid
family, whose members replicate by the rolling-circle mechanism. The
rep gene encoded a protein identical to RepU, the protein
required for initiation of the replication of plasmids pTB913 from a
thermophilic Bacillus sp. and pUB110 from
Staphylococcus aureus. The mob gene encoded a
protein with a high degree of amino acid identity with the Mob proteins
involved in conjugative mobilization and interplasmidic recombination
of pTB913 and pUB110. The host range of pIP823 was broad and included L. monocytogenes, Enterococcus faecalis,
S. aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and
Escherichia coli. In all these species, pIP823 replicated by generating single-stranded DNA and was stable. Conjugative mobilization of pIP823 was obtained by self-transferable plasmids between L. monocytogenes and E. faecalis,
between L. monocytogenes and E. coli, and
between strains of E. coli, and by the streptococcal conjugative transposon Tn1545 from L. monocytogenes to E. faecalis, and from L. monocytogenes and E. faecalis to E. coli. These data indicate that the gene flux observed in nature
from gram-positive to gram-negative bacteria can occur by conjugative
mobilization. Our results suggest that dissemination of trimethoprim
resistance in Listeria spp. and acquisition of other
antibiotic resistance determinants in this species can be anticipated.
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Conjugative Mobilization of the Rolling-Circle Plasmid pIP823
from Listeria monocytogenes BM4293 among Gram-Positive
and Gram-Negative Bacteria

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité des
Agents Antibactériens, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux,
75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: (33) (1) 45 68 83 20. Fax: (33)
(1) 45 68 83 19. E-mail: pcourval{at}pasteur.fr.
Present address: New York University Medical Center, Department of
Cell Biology, New York, NY 10016.
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