Resistance to Lincosamides by Nucleotidylation Associated with Conjugative Transfer of a Large Chromosomal Element in Enterococcus faecium

Enzymic modification of lincosamides by nucleotidyltransferases or phosphotransferases is an unusual mechanism of resistance which has been reported in antibiotic producers (Streptomyces) and staphylococci3. In Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Staphylococcus aureus, the closely related genes linA and linA′ which encode lincosamide nucleotidyltransferases have been characterized1, 2. We report a strain of Enterococcus faecium which inactivates the lincosamides but does not contain the lin genes.