Cloning and sequencing of a novel gene (recG) that affects the quinolone susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus.

In a study of the quinolone resistance genes in Staphylococcus aureus, a recG homolog was cloned as a gene affecting quinolone susceptibility. Sequencing analysis revealed that the gene consists of 2,061 nucleotides and encodes a 686-amino-acid polypeptide, which shows 38, 39, and 50% amino acid identity with the RecGs of Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, and Streptococcus pneumoniae, respectively. Seven helicase motifs are well conserved in the gene product. A plasmid carrying the gene complemented a recG-deficient mutant of E. coli with respect to mitomycin hypersusceptibility, demonstrating that the gene product is functionally equivalent to E. coli RecG. These results indicate that the gene is the recG gene of S. aureus. S. aureus RCM101 (recG::Tn551), designated S. aureus 3f33, is four to eight times more susceptible to quinolones than the parent strain, RCM101. The transformation of strain 3f33 with a plasmid carrying the S. aureus recG gene made it as quinolone resistant as strain RCM101. These results suggest that the recG gene is involved in the repair of DNA damage resulting from quinolone treatment in S. aureus.