Novel plasmid conferring kanamycin and tetracycline resistance in the turkey-derived Campylobacter jejuni strain 11601MD

• Plasmid p11601MD, harbored by the turkey-derived Campylobacter jejuni strain 11601MD has been fully sequenced and analyzed.
• Plasmid harbors a tetracycline (tet(O))-kanamycin (aphA-3) resistance cassette, likely acquired by horizontal gene transfer.
• This resistance cassette may represent a minimal resistance locus, a hotspot for additional resistance genes.

In Campylobacter spp., resistance to the antimicrobials kanamycin and tetracycline is frequently associated with plasmid-borne genes. However, relatively few plasmids of Campylobacter jejuni have been fully characterized to date. A novel plasmid (p11601MD; 44,095 nt) harboring tet(O) was identified in C. jejuni strain 11601MD, which was isolated from the jejunum of a turkey produced conventionally in North Carolina. Analysis of the p11601MD sequence revealed the presence of a high-GC content cassette with four genes that included tet(O) and a putative aminoglycoside transferase gene (aphA-3) highly similar to kanamycin resistance determinants. Several genes putatively involved in conjugative transfer were also identified on the plasmid. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of the distribution of potentially self-mobilizing plasmids harboring antibiotic resistance determinants in Campylobacter spp. from turkeys and other sources.