A chromosomal chloramphenicol acetyltransferase determinant from a probiotic strain of Bacillus clausii

The mechanism of resistance to chloramphenicol was studied in four strains of Bacillus clausii included in a probiotic mixture, which is administered to humans for prevention of gastrointestinal side effects due to oral antibiotic therapy. By cloning experiments, a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene, cat(Bcl), coding for a putative 228-amino acid CAT protein was identified in B. clausii SIN. The deduced amino acid sequence displayed from 31% to 85% identity with 56 CAT proteins from other Gram-positive bacterial strains. The cat(Bcl) gene was also detected by PCR in the three other B. clausii strains resistant to chloramphenicol, whereas it was absent in the three control strains susceptible to chloramphenicol. Pulse-field gel electrophoresis of total DNA digested by I-CeuI followed by hybridization with a cat-specific probe as well as unsuccessful repeated attempts of in vitro transfer of chloramphenicol resistance to various recipient cells indicated that cat(Bcl) was chromosomally located in all four resistant B. clausii strains.