Seven mobile oxazolidinone resistance genes, including cfr , cfr (B), cfr (C), cfr (D), cfr (E), optrA , and poxtA , have been identified to date. The cfr genes code for 23S rRNA methylases, which confer a multiresistance phenotype that includes resistance to phenicols, lincosamides, oxazolidinones, pleuromutilins, and streptogramin A compounds. The optrA and poxtA genes code for ABC-F proteins that protect the bacterial ribosomes from the inhibitory effects of oxazolidinones.

plasmid pLVPK (accession number AY378100; appendix), and the smaller plasmid (pKPC-CR-HvKP267, accession number MG053313) carried bla KPC-2 , which was consistent with the S1-PFGE and southern blot data (appendix). In addition to bla KPC-2 , pKPC-CR-HvKP267 also carried other antimicrobial resistance genes including tet(A) variant, bla LAP-2 , qnrS1, aac(3)-IId, dfrA1, and sulI. To confirm that the antibiotic-resistant phenotype of KP267 was mediated by tet(A) variant, an EcoRI-digested DNA fragment of pKPC-CR-HvKP267 carrying tet(A) variant was cloned to a pBluescript vector, which conferred tigecycline resistance in host strain Escherichia coli DH5α, indicating that tet(A) variant mediates tigecycline resistance in KP267. The presence of the tet(A) variant in CR-HvKP further restricts the treatment options for this notorious pathogen.

The multiresistance gene cfr was identified for the first time in an Enterococcus faecalis isolate of animal origin. The 32,388-bp plasmid pEF-01, which carried the cfr gene, was sequenced completely. Three copies of the insertion sequence IS1216 were identified in pEF-01, and the detection of a cfr-and IS1216-containing amplicon by inverse PCR suggests that IS1216 may play a role in the dissemination of cfr by a recombination process.

Florfenicol is extensively used in livestock to prevent or cure bacterial infections. However, it is not known whether the administration of florfenicol has resulted in the emergence and dissemination of florfenicol resistance genes (FRGs, including fexA, fexB, cfr, optrA, floR, and pexA) in microbial populations in surrounding farm environments. Here we collected soil samples for the detection of FRGs and the residue of florfenicol from six swine farms with the record of florfenicol usage. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and metagenomic sequencing revealed a significantly higher relative abundance of FRGs in the soils adjacent to the three swine farms where florfenicol was heavily used compared with the other sites. Meanwhile, the detectable levels of florfenicol were also identified in soils from two of these three farms using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. It appears that amount of florfenicol used on swine farms and the spreading of soils with swine waste could promote the prevalence and abundance of FRGs, including the linezolid resistance genes cfr and optrA, in adjacent soils, and agricultural application of swine manure with florfenicol may have caused a residual level of florfenicol in the soils.

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