DNA probes for identification of tetracycline resistance genes in Campylobacter species isolated from swine and cattle.

Tetracycline-resistant strains of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli from swine and cattle colons were isolated and characterized by hybridization with DNA probes. A probe consisting of the 1.8-kilobase (kb) HincII fragment from pUA466 was highly specific for the detection of tetracycline resistance (Tcr) in C. jejuni and C. coli. The 5-kb tetM DNA probe from Streptococcus agalactiae plasmid pJI3 which has homology with the 1.8-kb HincII fragment from pUA466 could also be used to detect Tcr Campylobacter strains. However, the tetM probe had a much lower sensitivity and required a lower stringency of hybridization. Therefore, the 1.8-kb HincII fragment appeared to be more appropriate for the classification of Tcr in Campylobacter spp. No homology was detected between the Tcr determinant from Campylobacter spp. and the tetL and tetN probes from Streptococcus spp. DNA homology was demonstrated between pUA649, a derivative of plasmid pUA466 which had lost most of the Tcr region, and Tcr plasmids from C. jejuni and C. coli isolated from animal and human sources. There was also homology between pUA649 and the chromosomes of C. jejuni and C. coli strains. In this study, all but one of the tetracycline-resistant C. coli and C. jejuni strains contained plasmids of approximately 50 kb which hybridized with the 1.8-kb HincII probe. In one C. coli strain (UA703), Tcr appeared to be chromosomally mediated.