Plasmid-encoded trimethoprim resistance in staphylococci

High-level (greater than 1,000 micrograms/ml) resistance to the antimicrobial agent trimethoprim was found in 17 of 101 (17%) coagulase-negative staphylococci and 5 of 51 (10%) Staphylococcus aureus from a number of different hospitals in the United States. Resistance was plasmid encoded and could be transferred by conjugation in 4 of the 17 (24%) Tpr coagulase-negative staphylococci and 3 of the 5 (60%) Tpr S. aureus. A 1.2-kilobase segment of plasmid DNA from one of the plasmids (pG01) was cloned on a high-copy-number vector in Escherichia coli and expressed high-level Tpr (MIC, 1,025 micrograms/ml) in the gram-negative host. In situ filter hybridization demonstrated homology between the cloned Tpr gene probe and plasmid DNA from each conjugative Tpr plasmid, a single nonconjugative plasmid from a United States Staphylococcus epidermidis isolate, a nonconjugative plasmid from an Australian methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolate, and chromosomal DNA from three Tpr S. epidermidis isolates that did not contain any plasmid DNA that was homologous with the probe. No homology was seen between the probe and staphylococcal plasmids not mediating Tpr, plasmid DNA from 12 Tpr S. epidermidis isolates not transferring Tpr by conjugation, or plasmid-encoded Tpr genes derived from gram-negative bacteria. Plasmid-encoded Tpr appears to be a relatively new gene in staphylococci and, because it can be transferred by conjugation, could become more prevalent in nonsocomial isolates.