ermC encodes a methylase that modifies 23 S rRNA, conferring resistance to macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B antibiotics. The expression of this gene is induced by erythromycin using a translational mechanism. We have employed the inherent RNase activity of a Bacillus subtilis S-30 extract as a probe for studying the interaction of ribosomes with ermC mRNA in the presence of antibiotics. 5'...

We have investigated the induced stability of mRNA encoded by the ermC gene in Bacillus subtilis. Induction of ermC gene expression by erythromycin is known to occur at the translational level. We show that this induction is accompanied by an increase in ermC mRNA half-life from about 2 min to about 40 min. Induced stabilization of ermC mRNA occurs independently of induced translation. The regu...

Combinatorial peptide display on phage M13 protein pIII was used to discover peptide sequences that selectively bind to ErmC' methyltransferase from Bacillus subtilis. One peptide, Ac-LSGVIAT-NH(2), inhibited methylation in vitro with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 20 microM. Interestingly, the set of six peptides which inhibited ErmC' stimulated ErmSF, a homologous methyltransferase from St...

Sequence deletions of 16, 59, and 111 bp as well as a tandem duplication of 272 bp with respect to the corresponding sequence of pT48 were identified in the regulatory regions of constitutively expressed ermC genes. Constitutive ermC gene expression as a consequence of these structural alterations is based on either the prevention of the formation of mRNA secondary structures in the translation...

ErmC' is a methyltransferase that confers resistance to the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B group of antibiotics by catalyzing the methylation of 23S rRNA at a specific adenine residue (A-2085 in Bacillus subtilis; A-2058 in Escherichia coli). The gene for ErmC' was cloned and expressed to a high level in E. coli, and the protein was purified to virtual homogeneity. Studies of substrate r...

The ermC gene of plasmid pE194 specifies resistance to the macrolidelincosamide-streptogramin B antibiotics. This resistance, as well as synthesis of the 29,000 dalton protein product of ermC, has been shown to be induced by erythromycin. Weisblum and his colleagues have established that macrolide resistance is associated with a specific dimethylation of adenine in 23 S rRNA. We show that pE194...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains with inducible macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (iMLS(B)) resistance phenotype may lead to clinical failure during clindamycin (CLI) therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of MLS(B) phenotypes by using D-test method and genotypes by using multiplex real-time PCR method in MRSA strains. A total of 265 MRSA str...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin type B (MLSB) antibiotics are important in the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections and existence of isolates with ability to resist against MLSB antibiotics is worrisome. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this cross sectional study, 101 S. aureus isolates were collected from patients of five selected hospitals in Tehran over ...

Several features of the translational attenuation model of ermC regulation were tested. This model predicts two possible secondary structures for the leader of the ermC transcript and requires that the leader contains two Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequences. The ribosome binding site for a leader peptide (SD1) is predicted to be accessible, whereas that for the rRNA methylase protein that confers ery...