We have determined the genetic basis of minocycline resistance in a strain of Streptococcus infantis isolated from a healthy human oral cavity. We demonstrate that tet(S), identical to tet(S) found on the enterococcal conjugative transposon Tn6000, is responsible for the observed resistance. The gene is located on a small, low copy number plasmid and is flanked by IS1216 elements. The tet(S) gene is capable of excising from the plasmid together with one of the IS1216 elements. The plasmid contains a putative toxin/antitoxin system related to relBE. Deletion of the toxin, relE, did not result in plasmid instability but did increase the fitness of the mutant compared to the wild-type strain.
Keywords: IS 1216; Tn6000; relBE; toxin-antitoxin.
© 2014 The Authors. FEMS Microbiology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Microbiological Societies.