Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1982 Apr;150(1):141–147. doi: 10.1128/jb.150.1.141-147.1982

Tetracycline-inducible transfer of tetracycline resistance in Bacteroides fragilis in the absence of detectable plasmid DNA.

A Rashtchian, G R Dubes, S J Booth
PMCID: PMC220092  PMID: 7061390

Abstract

Tetracycline resistance of three Bacteroides fragilis strains was shown to be inducible by subinhibitory concentrations of tetracycline. Tetracycline resistance markers could be transferred to another B. fragilis strain by filter mating. The transferability was inducible by subinhibitory concentrations of tetracycline and did not take place in the absence of tetracycline. The optimum concentration of tetracycline for induction of transfer was about 2 microgram/ml. The transfer was shown to be a conjugation-like process requiring cell-to-cell contact between donor and recipient. Screening of parental donor strains for the presence of plasmid DNA did not demonstrate any detectable plasmids in two of the strains. A 3.0-megadalton plasmid, designated pBY5, was present in the third donor strain. Mobilization of pBY5 by another plasmid (pBF4) showed that pBY5 did not carry the genes responsible for tetracycline resistance. It appears that the genes responsible for resistance to tetracycline as well as those responsible for conjugal transfer may be carried on the chromosome in all three donor strains.

Full text

PDF
141

Images in this article

144Image
on p.144
145Image
on p.145

Selected References

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

  1. Bodner S. J., Koenig M. G., Treanor L. L., Goodman J. S. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of Bacteroides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1972 Aug;2(2):57–60. doi: 10.1128/aac.2.2.57. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bolivar F., Rodriguez R. L., Greene P. J., Betlach M. C., Heyneker H. L., Boyer H. W., Crosa J. H., Falkow S. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene. 1977;2(2):95–113. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Buu-Hoï A., Horodniceanu T. Conjugative transfer of multiple antibiotic resistance markers in Streptococcus pneumoniae. J Bacteriol. 1980 Jul;143(1):313–320. doi: 10.1128/jb.143.1.313-320.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Clewell D. B., Helinski D. R. Supercoiled circular DNA-protein complex in Escherichia coli: purification and induced conversion to an opern circular DNA form. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Apr;62(4):1159–1166. doi: 10.1073/pnas.62.4.1159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Clowes R. C. Molecular structure of bacterial plasmids. Bacteriol Rev. 1972 Sep;36(3):361–405. doi: 10.1128/br.36.3.361-405.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Franke A. E., Clewell D. B. Evidence for a chromosome-borne resistance transposon (Tn916) in Streptococcus faecalis that is capable of "conjugal" transfer in the absence of a conjugative plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1981 Jan;145(1):494–502. doi: 10.1128/jb.145.1.494-502.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gorbach S. L., Bartlett J. G. Anaerobic infections. 1. N Engl J Med. 1974 May 23;290(21):1177–1184. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197405232902106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gorbach S. L. Intestinal microflora. Gastroenterology. 1971 Jun;60(6):1110–1129. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Guerry P., LeBlanc D. J., Falkow S. General method for the isolation of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid. J Bacteriol. 1973 Nov;116(2):1064–1066. doi: 10.1128/jb.116.2.1064-1066.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hansen J. B., Olsen R. H. Isolation of large bacterial plasmids and characterization of the P2 incompatibility group plasmids pMG1 and pMG5. J Bacteriol. 1978 Jul;135(1):227–238. doi: 10.1128/jb.135.1.227-238.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Heffron F., Sublett R., Hedges R. W., Jacob A., Falkow S. Origin of the TEM-beta-lactamase gene found on plasmids. J Bacteriol. 1975 Apr;122(1):250–256. doi: 10.1128/jb.122.1.250-256.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Herschman H. R., Helinski D. R. Comparative study of the events associated with colicin induction. J Bacteriol. 1967 Sep;94(3):691–699. doi: 10.1128/jb.94.3.691-699.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Holland J. W., Hill E. O., Altemeier W. A. Numbers and types of anaerobic bacteria isolated from clinical specimens since 1960. J Clin Microbiol. 1977 Jan;5(1):20–25. doi: 10.1128/jcm.5.1.20-25.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Horodniceanu T., Bougueleret L., Bieth G. Conjugative transfer of multiple-antibiotic resistance markers in beta-hemolytic group A, B, F, and G streptococci in the absence of extrachromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid. Plasmid. 1981 Mar;5(2):127–137. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(81)90014-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Levy S. B., McMurry L. Detection of an inducible membrane protein associated with R-factor-mediated tetracycline resistance. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1974 Feb 27;56(4):1060–1068. doi: 10.1016/s0006-291x(74)80296-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Martin W. J., Gardner M., Washington J. A., 2nd In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of anaerobic bacteria isolated from clinical specimens. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1972 Feb;1(2):148–158. doi: 10.1128/aac.1.2.148. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Meyers J. A., Sanchez D., Elwell L. P., Falkow S. Simple agarose gel electrophoretic method for the identification and characterization of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid. J Bacteriol. 1976 Sep;127(3):1529–1537. doi: 10.1128/jb.127.3.1529-1537.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Nakazawa T., Yokota T. Isolation of a mutant TOL plasmid with increased activity and transmissibility from Pseudomonas putida (arvilla) mt-2. J Bacteriol. 1977 Jan;129(1):39–46. doi: 10.1128/jb.129.1.39-46.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Overman S., Lambe D. W., Jr, Bennett J. V. Proposed standardized method for testing and interpreting susceptibility of Bacteroides fragilis to tetracycline. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1974 Apr;5(4):357–361. doi: 10.1128/aac.5.4.357. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Polk B. F., Kasper D. L. Bacteroides fragilis subspecies in clinical isolates. Ann Intern Med. 1977 May;86(5):569–571. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-86-5-569. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Privitera G., Dublanchet A., Sebald M. Transfer of multiple antibiotic resistance between subspecies of Bacteroides fragilis. J Infect Dis. 1979 Jan;139(1):97–101. doi: 10.1093/infdis/139.1.97. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Privitera G., Sebald M., Fayolle F. Common regulatory mechanism of expression and conjugative ability of a tetracycline resistance plasmid in Bacteroides fragilis. Nature. 1979 Apr 12;278(5705):657–659. doi: 10.1038/278657a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Roberts M. C., Smith A. L. Molecular characterization of "plasmid-free" antibiotic-resistant Haemophilus influenzae. J Bacteriol. 1980 Oct;144(1):476–479. doi: 10.1128/jb.144.1.476-479.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Shoemaker N. B., Smith M. D., Guild W. R. DNase-resistant transfer of chromosomal cat and tet insertions by filter mating in Pneumococcus. Plasmid. 1980 Jan;3(1):80–87. doi: 10.1016/s0147-619x(80)90036-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Stuy J. H. Plasmid transfer in Haemophilus influenzae. J Bacteriol. 1979 Aug;139(2):520–529. doi: 10.1128/jb.139.2.520-529.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Sutter V. L., Barry A. L., Wilkins T. D., Zabransky R. J. Collaborative evaluation of a proposed reference dilution method of susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1979 Oct;16(4):495–502. doi: 10.1128/aac.16.4.495. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Tally F. P., Snydman D. R., Gorbach S. L., Malamy M. H. Plasmid-mediated, transferable resistance to clindamycin and erythromycin in Bacteroides fragilis. J Infect Dis. 1979 Jan;139(1):83–88. doi: 10.1093/infdis/139.1.83. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Van Tassell R. L., Wilkins T. D. Isolation of auxotrophs of Bacteroides fragilis. Can J Microbiol. 1978 Dec;24(12):1619–1621. doi: 10.1139/m78-260. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Welch R. A., Jones K. R., Macrina F. L. Transferable lincosamide-macrolide resistance in Bacteroides. Plasmid. 1979 Apr;2(2):261–268. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(79)90044-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Wilkins T. D., Chalgren S. Medium for use in antibiotic susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1976 Dec;10(6):926–928. doi: 10.1128/aac.10.6.926. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Young F. E., Mayer L. Genetic determinants of microbial resistance to antibiotics. Rev Infect Dis. 1979 Jan-Feb;1(1):55–63. doi: 10.1093/clinids/1.1.55. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES