CLONING AND SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF A PLASMID-ENCODED CHLORAMPHENICOL ACETYLTRANSFERASE GENE FROM STAPHYLOCOCCUS-INTERMEDIUS

The cholramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) of a 3.9 kb chloramphenicol resistance (Cm(R)) plasmid from Staphylococcus intermedius, designated pSCS1, was cloned into an Escherichia coli plasmid vector. Sequence analysis revealed a high degree of base similarity with the cat gene of the S. aureus Cm(R) plasmid pC221 but there were several differences in the regulatory region. A lesser degree of similarity was observed between the cat gene of the S. intermedius plasmid and the cat gene of the S. aureus plasmid pC194.