The nucleotide sequence of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) and its regulatory region, encoded by the plasmid pSCS7 from Staphylococcus aureus, was determined. The structural cat gene encoded a protein of 209 amino acids, which represented one monomer of the enzyme chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). Comparisons between the amino acid sequences of the pSCS7-encoded CAT from S. aureus and the previously sequenced CAT variants from S. aureus, Staphylococcus intermedius, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Bacillus pumilis, Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, and Proteus mirabilis were performed. An alignment of CAT amino acid sequences demonstrated the presence of 34 conserved amino acids among all CAT variants. These conserved residues were considered for their possible roles in the structure and function of CAT. On the basis of the alignment, a phylogenetic tree was constructed. It demonstrated relatively large evolutionary distances between the CAT variants of enteric bacteria, Clostridium, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus species.