Nucleotide sequence and characterization of erythromycin resistance determinant that encodes macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase I in Escherichia coli

Abstract

The DNA fragment (3.3 kb) containing the erythromycin resistance determinant was cloned from Escherichia coli Tf481A and sequenced. Deletion and complementation analyses indicated that the expression of high-level resistance to erythromycin requires two genes, mphA and mrx, which encode macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase I and an unidentified hydrophobic protein, respectively.