High-level Tetracycline Resistance in Neisseria Gonorrhoeae is Result of Acquisition of Streptococcal TetM Determinant

Overview

Journal Antimicrob Agents Chemother

Publisher American Society for Microbiology

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 1986 Nov 1

PMID 3099640

Citations 136

Authors

S A Morse

S R Johnson

J W Biddle

M C Roberts

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Recently, strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae have been isolated which are highly resistant to tetracycline (MICs of 16 to 64 micrograms/ml). This resistance was due to the acquisition of the resistance determinant tetM, a transposon-borne determinant initially found in the genus Streptococcus and more recently in Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Gardnerella vaginalis. In N. gonorrhoeae, the tetM determinant was located on a 25.2-megadalton plasmid. This plasmid arose from the insertion of tetM into the 24.5-megadalton gonococcal conjugative plasmid. The tetM determinant could be transferred to suitable recipient strains of N. gonorrhoeae by both genetic transformation and conjugation.

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