Linkage of the Kanamycin Resistance Gene with the Streptothricin Resistance Gene in Staphylococcus aureus SA2

The pKH2 isolated from the multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus SA2 is a 40.98-kb plasmid and mediates resistance to ampicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, kanamycin, and streptomycin. The 3.4-kb HindIII fragment conferring kanamycin resistance was cloned from the pKH2 into pBluescriptII <TEX>$KS^+$</TEX> and partial sequence determination of that fragment was carried out. Sequence analysis revealed that the kanamycin resistance gene which encoded aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase was linked to the streptothricin resistance gene. But a nonsense mutation was found in the streptothricin resistance gene and this mutation resulted in a truncated protein of streptothricin acetyltransferase. Homology comparison with nucleotide sequence databases revealed that the 3.4-kb HindIII fragment of pKH2 had been derived not from S. aureus but from Gram-negative Campylobacter coli.