A novel erm(44) gene variant, erm(44)v, has been identified by whole-genome sequencing in a Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolate from the skin of a healthy person. It has the particularity to confer resistance to macrolides and lincosamides but not to streptogramin B when expressed in S. aureus The erm(44)v gene resides on a 19,400-bp genomic island which contains phage-associated proteins and is integrated into the chromosome of S. saprophyticus.
Keywords: 23S RNA methylase; MLSB; Staphylococcus; antibiotic resistance; coagulase-negative staphylococci; macrolides-lincosamides-streptogramin B; phages.
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