Molecular basis of bacterial resistance to chloramphenicol and florfenicol

Chloramphenicol (Cm) and its fluorinated derivative florfenicol (Ff) represent highly potent inhibitors of bacterial protein biosynthesis. As a consequence of the use of Cm in human and veterinary medicine, bacterial pathogens of various species and genera have developed and/or acquired Cm resistance. Ff is solely used in veterinary medicine and has been introduced into clinical use in the mid-1990s. Of the Cm resistance genes known to date, only a small number also mediates resistance to Ff. In this review, we present an overview of the different mechanisms responsible for resistance to Cm and Ff with particular focus on the two different types of chloramphenicol acetyltransferases (CATs), specific exporters…

• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft