Multiresistance gene <i>cfr</i>(C) in <i>Clostridium perfringens</i> of cattle origin from China
Shihong Zhang, Peng Liu, Yang Wang, Zhangqi Shen, Shaolin Wang
Abstract
As one of the important zoonotic and foodborne pathogens, Clostridium perfringens can cause severe diseases in both humans and animals,1 such as food poisoning, gas gangrene and necrotizing enteritis. Over the last few decades, antimicrobial resistance of C. perfringens has been rising, threatening public health and the livestock industry.2 The cfr gene was first identified in Staphylococcus sciuri isolated from the nasal passages of calves with respiratory infections in 2000,3 and five major variants have been reported: cfr, cfr(B), cfr(C), cfr(D) and cfr(E).4,cfr encodes RNA methyltransferase to methylate A2503 in 23S rRNA (Escherichia coli numbering), which affects the effective combination of many antibiotics with the peptidyl transferase centre (PTC) of the bacterial ribosome,5 resulting in cross-resistance to phenols, lincosamides, oxazolidinones (excluding tedizolid), pleuromutilins and streptogramin A (PhLOPSA).6 Oxazolidinones, including linezolid and tedizolid, show a remarkable...