Presence of the Listeria tetracycline resistance gene tet(S) in Enterococcus faecalis.

Two hundred thirty-eight tetracycline- and minocycline-resistant clinical isolates of Enterococcus and Streptococcus spp. were investigated by dot blot hybridization for the presence of nucleotide sequences related to tet(S) (first detected in Listeria monocytogenes BM4210), tet(K), tet(L), tet(M), tet(O), tet(P), and tet(Q) genes. The tet(S) determinant was found in 22 strains of Enterococcus faecalis, associated with tet(M) in 9 of these isolates and further associated with tet(L) in 3 of these strains. tet(M) was detected in all strains of Streptococcus spp. and in all but 10 isolates of Enterococcus spp.; tet(L) was found in 93 enterococci and tet(O) was found in single isolates of E. faecalis and Streptococcus milleri. No hybridization with the tet(K), tet(P), and tet(Q) probes was observed. Transfer of tet(S) by conjugation to E. faecalis or to E. faecalis and L. monocytogenes was obtained from 8 of the 10 E. faecalis strains harboring only this tet gene. Hybridization experiments with DNAs of four donors and of the corresponding transconjugants suggested that tet(S) was located in the chromosome. These results indicate that the genetic support of tet(S) in E. faecalis is different from that in L. monocytogenes, where it is carried by self-transferable plasmids, and confirm the notion of exchange of genetic information between Enterococcus and Listeria spp. in nature.