Molecular cloning, purification, and properties of a plasmid-encoded chloramphenicol acetyltransferase from Staphylococcus haemolyticus.

A small chloramphenicol resistance (Cmr) plasmid of approximately 3.75 kb, designated pSCS5, was isolated from Staphylococcus haemolyticus. This plasmid encoded an inducible chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT; EC 2.3.1.28). The cat gene of pSCS5 was cloned into the Escherichia coli plasmid vector pBluescript SKII+. It differed in its nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence from the cat genes described previously in staphylococci and other gram-positive bacteria. The CAT enzyme was purified from cell-free lysates by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, and fast protein liquid chromatography. The native enzyme had an Mr of 70,000 and was composed of three identical subunits, each with an Mr of approximately 23,000. Its isoelectric point was at pH 6.15. CAT from pSCS5 exhibited Km values of 2.81 and 51.8 microM for chloramphenicol and acetyl coenzyme A, respectively. The optimum pH for activity was 7.8. CAT encoded by pSCS5 proved to be relatively heat stable, but sensitive to mercury ions. The observed differences in the nucleotide sequence and the biochemical characteristics of the enzyme allowed the identification of the pSCS5-encoded CAT from S. haemolyticus as a CAT variant different from those described previously in gram-positive bacteria.