Skip to main content
PMC home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1978 Jul;14(1):105–111. doi: 10.1128/aac.14.1.105

Chloramphenicol Acetyltransferase of Bacteroides fragilis

M L Britz 1, R G Wilkinson 1
PMCID: PMC352412  PMID: 28690

Abstract

Chloramphenicol-resistant strains of Bacteroides fragilis (minimum inhibitory concentration, 12.5 μg/ml) were isolated from a stool specimen which contained multiply resistant Escherichia coli. The enzyme responsible for resistance, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, was produced constitutively by these strains; the specific activity was 10-fold lower than that of the E. coli enzymes. Similar activity was not detected in susceptible B. fragilis strains, nor could it be induced by growth in the presence of chloramphenicol or by mutagenesis. The enzyme had a pH optimum of 7.8 and a molecular weight of approximately 89,000. The Km for chloramphenicol was 5.2 μM, and the enzyme was sensitive to inhibition by 5,5′-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid. The enzyme produced by an E. coli strain isolated from the same specimen had a similar Km and sensitivity to 5,5′-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid.

Full text

PDF
105

Selected References

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

  1. Andrews P. Estimation of the molecular weights of proteins by Sephadex gel-filtration. Biochem J. 1964 May;91(2):222–233. doi: 10.1042/bj0910222. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. 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]
  3. Burt S. J., Woods D. R. R factor transfer to obligate anaerobes from Escherichia coli. J Gen Microbiol. 1976 Apr;93(2):405–409. doi: 10.1099/00221287-93-2-405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cadogan-Cowper G., Wilkinson R. G. Anaerobic bacteriology. Isolation and identification of Bacteroides and Fusobacterium from human sources. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1974 Dec;52(6):897–908. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cohen S. N. Transposable genetic elements and plasmid evolution. Nature. 1976 Oct 28;263(5580):731–738. doi: 10.1038/263731a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Foster T. J., Shaw W. V. Chloramphenicol acetyltransferases specified by fi minus R factors. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1973 Jan;3(1):99–104. doi: 10.1128/aac.3.1.99. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Iyobe S., Kono M., Oara K., Hashimoto H., Mitsuhashi S. Relationship between chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity and the number of resistance genes. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1974 Jan;5(1):68–74. doi: 10.1128/aac.5.1.68. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kislak J. W. The susceptibility of Bacteroides fragilis to 24 antibiotics. J Infect Dis. 1972 Mar;125(3):295–299. doi: 10.1093/infdis/125.3.295. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Nagai Y., Mitsuhashi S. New type of R factors incapable of inactivating chloramphenicol. J Bacteriol. 1972 Jan;109(1):1–7. doi: 10.1128/jb.109.1.1-7.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sebald M., Bréfort M. G. Transfert du plasmide Tétracycline-Chloramphénicol chez Clostridium perfringens. C R Acad Sci Hebd Seances Acad Sci D. 1975 Jul 28;281(4):317–319. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Shaw W. V., Brodsky R. F. Characterization of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase from chloramphenicol-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol. 1968 Jan;95(1):28–36. doi: 10.1128/jb.95.1.28-36.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shaw W. V. Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase from chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria. Methods Enzymol. 1975;43:737–755. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(75)43141-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shaw W. V. The enzymatic acetylation of chloramphenicol by extracts of R factor-resistant Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem. 1967 Feb 25;242(4):687–693. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Zabransky R. J., Johnston J. A., Hauser K. J. Bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities of various antibiotics against Bacteroides fragilis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1973 Feb;3(2):152–156. doi: 10.1128/aac.3.2.152. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES