A gene (hur) from Streptomyces aureofaciens, conferring resistance to hydroxyurea, is related to genes encoding streptomycin phosphotransferase

Abstract

A novel gene (hur) conferring resistance to hydroxyurea (HU) in Escherichia coli has been identified in a Streptomyces aureofaciens genomic library. The expression of hur in E. coli was under the control of the external plasmid tet promoter. Sequence analysis of a minimal fragment revealed an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 340 amino acids with an M(r) of 36,049 and an average hydropathy index of 1.13. The predicted protein product was similar to streptomycin phosphotransferases from Streptomyces glaucescens and Streptomyces griseus (52.4% and 50.8% identity, respectively), but it did not confer resistance to streptomycin or to any of the other aminoglycoside antibiotics tested. It is inferred that hur encodes a phosphotransferase that inactivates HU by phosphorylation of the hydroxy group in the hydroxylamine moiety.