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Primary structure of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase specified by R plasmids

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Abstract

Naturally occurring isolates of chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria commonly synthesise chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.28; CAT) in amounts which are sufficient to account for the resistance phenotype and often harbour plas-mids which carry the structural gene for CAT1,2. The finding of CAT in such diverse prokaryotes as Proteus mirabilis, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Streptomyces sp., and a soil Flavobacterium has led to speculation concerning the origin and evolution of the more commonly observed CAT variants specified by plasmids in clinically important bacteria2. To provide a more solid basis for studying the evolution and spread of CAT within prokaryotes we chose to determine the complete amino acid sequence of a type I variant of CAT, the variant known to be associated with most F-like plasmids conferring chloramphenicol resistance. The sequence has been determined by combining the results obtained from manual and automated sequential degradation with those obtained by mass spectrometry of peptides generated by enzymatic digestion. The directly determined primary structure is identical with that predicted by the DNA sequence analysis3 of the chloramphenicol resistance transponson Tn9 known to specify a type I variant of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase.

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Author notes

  1. L. C. Packman

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    W. V. Shaw & L. C. Packman

  2. Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas, 77030

    B. D. Burleigh

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College, London, SW7, UK

    A. Dell, H. R. Morris & B. S. Hartley

Authors
  1. W. V. Shaw
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  2. L. C. Packman
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  3. B. D. Burleigh
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  4. A. Dell
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  5. H. R. Morris
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  6. B. S. Hartley
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Shaw, W., Packman, L., Burleigh, B. et al. Primary structure of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase specified by R plasmids. Nature 282, 870–872 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282870a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282870a0

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