Disease relevance of cadA

• Plasmid-borne cadmium resistance genes in Listeria monocytogenes are present on Tn5422, a novel transposon closely related to Tn917 [1].
• We report the cloning of the fusidic acid and cadmium resistance determinants from Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pUB101 [2].
• When introduced into cadmium-sensitive L. monocytogenes or Bacillus subtilis strains, this fragment conferred cadmium resistance [3].
• Genetic analysis of regions involved in replication and cadmium resistance of the plasmid pND302 from Lactococcus lactis [4].

High impact information on cadA

• Restriction analysis and Southern hybridization revealed the presence of Tn5422 in all the plasmid-mediated cadmium-resistant L. monocytogenes strains tested but not in strains encoding cadmium resistance on the chromosome [1].
• It contains two genes which confer cadmium resistance (M. Lebrun, A. Audurier, and P. Cossart, J. Bacteriol. 176:3040-3048, 1994) and two open reading frames that encode a transposase (TnpA) and a resolvase (TnpR) of 971 and 184 amino acids, respectively [1].

Biological context of cadA

• This is the first time that plasmids of L. monocytogenes have been shown to be associated with cadmium resistance [5].

References