Cloning and sequencing of the gene, fmtC, which affects oxacillin resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Two Tn551 insertional mutants with reduced methicillin resistance were isol ated from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus KSA8. These two mutan ts showed increased susceptibility to P-lactam antibiotics and bacitracin, but not to fosfomycin and vancomycin. Tn551 in these mutants was inserted i nto the same gene, termed fmtC The fmtC gene has an open reading frame of 8 40 amino acid residues with an estimated molecular mass of 96.9 kDa. The N- terminal half of the deduced FmtC protein is very hydrophobic, implying tha t this protein is a membrane-associated protein. (C) 2001 Federation of Eur opean Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.