Abstract
A better understanding of the origin and natural reservoirs of resistance determinants is fundamental to efficiently tackle antibiotic resistance. This paper reports the identification of a novel 5.8 kb erythromycin resistance plasmid, from Bacillus sp. HS24 isolated from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans. pBHS24B has a mosaic structure and carries the erythromycin resistance gene erm(T). This is the first report of an erythromycin resistance plasmid from a sponge associated bacteria and of the Erm(T) determinant in the genus Bacillus.
Highlights
Antibiotic resistance is recognised as a major public health problem and resistance determinants have been identified in a wide variety of different clinical and environmental settings [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
As there are no specific established antibiotic breakpoints values for marine sponge Bacillus isolates, the breakpoint values used for categorizing strain HS24 as resistant were those recommended by EFSA [19]
HS24 displays high levels of resistance to erythromycin (MIC of 3 mg ml21), transformation of the erythromycin susceptible strain Bacillus subtilis 168, with total plasmid DNA purified from isolate HS24, yielded no colonies on LB medium supplemented with 5 mg ml21 erythromycin [17]
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is recognised as a major public health problem and resistance determinants have been identified in a wide variety of different clinical and environmental settings [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Despite many years of research, the origin of these resistance determinants remains elusive [6, 7]. Resistance genes are frequently associated with promiscuous mobile genetic elements which drive their evolution and facilitate their horizontal spread [8]. Knowledge on the prevalence and nature of these in natural habitats is fundamental to increasing our understanding of the development of antibiotic resistance [9]. These plasmids can provide a backbone for the creation of new cloning vectors for use in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0115583. These plasmids can provide a backbone for the creation of new cloning vectors for use in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0115583 December 30, 2014
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