THE CHLORAMPHENICOL ACETYLTRANSFERASE GENE OF TN2424 - A NEW BREED OF CAT

We have sequenced the gene coding for the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase of Tn2424 of plasmid NR79. This gene codes for a protein of 23,500 Da, and the derived protein sequence is similar to those of the chromosomal chloramphenicol acetyltransferases of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and of unidentified open reading frames, which may encode chloramphenicol acetyltransferases, adjacent to the ermG macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin resistance gene of Bacillus sphaericus and the vgb virginiamycin resistance gene of Staphylococcus aureus. Weaker similarity to the LacA (thiogalactoside acetyltransferase) and CysE (serine acetyltransferase) proteins of Escherichia coli and the NodL protein of Rhizobium leguminosarum is also observed. There is no significant similarity to any other chloramphenicol acetyltransferase genes, such as that of Tn9. The Tn2424 cat gene is part of a 4.5-kb region which also contains the aacAla aminoglycoside-6'-N-acetyltransferase gene; Tn2424 is similar to Tn21 except for the presence of this region. Sequences flanking the cat gene are typical of those flanking other genes inserted into pVS1-derived "integrons" by a site-specific recombinational mechanism.