Diversity of putative Tn5253-like elements in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Pneumococcal resistance to tetracycline, chloramphenicol, erythromycin and clindamycin is often attributed to carriage of conjugative transposons of the Tn916 family. The less well studied conjugative transposon Tn5253 is a composite transposon consisting of a Tn916-like element inserted within the unrelated Tn5252 element, which has also been associated with chloramphenicol and tetracycline resistance. Here, carriage of the Tn5252 integrase (int5252), Tn5252-encoded umuC and umuD homologues and Tn916 integrase (int916) was examined among 55 clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to one or more of the abovementioned antibiotics. Tn5253-associated genes were common among the antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae examined, including members of international clones, although the spectrum of genes and resistances carried was diverse. Analysis of five isolates demonstrated insertion of a Tn5253-related element at the same chromosomal locus but sequence and restriction site diversity. This study shows for the first time a high degree of variability of Tn5253-related elements within clinical isolates of pneumococci. The fact that these elements are prevalent among internationally recognised pandemic clones warrants a more intensive investigation.