Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1992 Feb;36(2):502–504. doi: 10.1128/aac.36.2.502

Conjugal transfer of plasmid DNA from Enterococcus faecalis to Escherichia coli in digestive tracts of gnotobiotic mice.

F Doucet-Populaire 1, P Trieu-Cuot 1, A Andremont 1, P Courvalin 1
PMCID: PMC188470  PMID: 1605622

Abstract

We have studied the transfer of the conjugative shuttle plasmid pAT191, which confers resistance to kanamycin, from Enterococcus faecalis to Escherichia coli in the digestive tracts of six gnotobiotic mice. Colonies of E. coli resistant to kanamycin were isolated from the feces of two mice, respectively, on days 25 and 35 after the beginning of the experiment and never thereafter. The transfer frequency of pAT191, expressed as the number of transconjugants per donor cell isolated from intestines of sacrificed mice, was 3 x 10(-9). These results indicate that conjugation is a mechanism that could account for the resistance gene flux from gram-positive to gram-negative bacteria observed in nature.

Full text

PDF
502

Images in this article

503Image
on p.503

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andremont A., Gerbaud G., Tancrède C., Courvalin P. Plasmid-mediated susceptibility to intestinal microbial antagonisms in Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 1985 Sep;49(3):751–755. doi: 10.1128/iai.49.3.751-755.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arthur M., Andremont A., Courvalin P. Distribution of erythromycin esterase and rRNA methylase genes in members of the family Enterobacteriaceae highly resistant to erythromycin. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1987 Mar;31(3):404–409. doi: 10.1128/aac.31.3.404. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bertram J., Strätz M., Dürre P. Natural transfer of conjugative transposon Tn916 between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. J Bacteriol. 1991 Jan;173(2):443–448. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.2.443-448.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brisson-Noël A., Arthur M., Courvalin P. Evidence for natural gene transfer from gram-positive cocci to Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1988 Apr;170(4):1739–1745. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.4.1739-1745.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Doucet-Populaire F., Trieu-Cuot P., Dosbaa I., Andremont A., Courvalin P. Inducible transfer of conjugative transposon Tn1545 from Enterococcus faecalis to Listeria monocytogenes in the digestive tracts of gnotobiotic mice. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1991 Jan;35(1):185–187. doi: 10.1128/aac.35.1.185. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Freter R., Brickner H., Fekete J., Vickerman M. M., Carey K. E. Survival and implantation of Escherichia coli in the intestinal tract. Infect Immun. 1983 Feb;39(2):686–703. doi: 10.1128/iai.39.2.686-703.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lambert T., Gerbaud G., Trieu-Cuot P., Courvalin P. Structural relationship between the genes encoding 3'-aminoglycoside phosphotransferases in Campylobacter and in gram-positive cocci. Ann Inst Pasteur Microbiol. 1985 Sep-Oct;136B(2):135–150. doi: 10.1016/s0769-2609(85)80040-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Morse S. A., Johnson S. R., Biddle J. W., Roberts M. C. High-level tetracycline resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is result of acquisition of streptococcal tetM determinant. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1986 Nov;30(5):664–670. doi: 10.1128/aac.30.5.664. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Roberts M. C. Plasmid-mediated Tet M in Haemophilus ducreyi. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1989 Sep;33(9):1611–1613. doi: 10.1128/aac.33.9.1611. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stotzky G., Babich H. Survival of, and genetic transfer by, genetically engineered bacteria in natural environments. Adv Appl Microbiol. 1986;31:93–138. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2164(08)70440-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Trieu-Cuot P., Carlier C., Courvalin P. Conjugative plasmid transfer from Enterococcus faecalis to Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1988 Sep;170(9):4388–4391. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.9.4388-4391.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Trieu-Cuot P., Gerbaud G., Lambert T., Courvalin P. In vivo transfer of genetic information between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. EMBO J. 1985 Dec 16;4(13A):3583–3587. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb04120.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES