A rifamycin inactivating phosphotransferase family shared by environmental and pathogenic bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Many environmental bacteria are multidrug-resistant and represent a reservoir of ancient antibiotic resistance determinants, which have been linked to genes found in pathogens. Exploring the environmental antibiotic resistome, therefore, reveals the diversity and evolution of antibiotic resistance and also provides insight into the vulnerability of clinically used antibiotics. In this study, we describe the identification of a highly conserved regulatory motif, the rifampin (RIF) -associated element (RAE), which is found upstream of genes encoding RIF-inactivating enzymes from a diverse collection of actinomycetes. Using gene expression assays, we confirmed that the RAE is involved in RIF-responsive regulation. By using the RAE as a probe for new RIF-associated genes in several actinomycet

SUBMITTER: Spanogiannopoulos P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4024899 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature