A novel fusidic acid resistance determinant, fusF, in Staphylococcus cohnii

Abstract

Objectives: To determine MICs of fusidic acid for and identify genetic determinants of resistance in Staphylococcus cohnii isolates.

Methods: Susceptibility to fusidic acid was determined by the standard agar dilution method in 24 S. cohnii subsp. urealyticus clinical isolates, 7 S. cohnii subsp. cohnii clinical isolates and 2 reference strains. Sequencing of a novel resistance determinant, fusF, and its flanking regions was performed by long and accurate PCR and inverse PCR. To evaluate the function of fusF, the MIC of fusidic acid was determined for recombinant Staphylococcus aureus carrying a plasmid expressing fusF.

Results: A total of 25 S. cohnii subsp. urealyticus (24 clinical isolates and 1 reference strain) and 2 S. cohnii subsp. cohnii displayed low-level resistance to fusidic acid (MICs 2-16 mg/L). Sequencing of a 4259 bp fragment from S. cohnii subsp. urealyticus ATCC 49330 revealed a novel resistance gene, designated fusF, which displayed 70.5% nucleotide and 67.3% amino acid identity to fusD. Expression of fusF in S. aureus confers resistance to fusidic acid.

Conclusions: A novel FusB-family gene, fusF, was identified as a major resistance determinant in S. cohnii clinical isolates resistant to fusidic acid.

Keywords: FusB family; fusD; staphylococci.