Cloning of a lincosamide resistance determinant from Streptomyces caelestis, the producer of celesticetin, and characterization of the resistance mechanism.

Self-resistance has been investigated in Streptomyces caelestis (producer of the lincosamide antibiotic celesticetin), from which a lincosamide resistance determinant (clr) has been isolated on a 1-kilobase DNA fragment and cloned in Streptomyces lividans. The clr product is a specific methylase which produces a single residue of N6-monomethyladenine in 23S rRNA at position 2058, thereby rendering the 50S ribosmal subunit resistant to the action of lincosamides.