The cme gene of Clostridium difficile confers multidrug resistance in Enterococcus faecalis.

Antibiotic resistance in C. difficile by efflux has been previously suggested. The genome of C. difficile 630 was screened for sequences encoding putative proteins homologous to NorA from Staphylococcus aureus. Four ORFs homologous to efflux genes were cloned into the pAT79 shuttle vector under the control of transcription and translation signals of Gram-positive bacteria and expressed in Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2 and S. aureus RN4220. One of these sequences, designated cme conferred resistance to ethidium bromide, safranin O, and erythromycin in E. faecalis. The three other ORFs did not confer detectable resistance in both bacteria.