Identification of an erm(T) gene in strains of inducibly clindamycin-resistant group B Streptococcus.

Five inducibly clindamycin (CLI)-resistant group B Streptococcus (GBS) isolates, all negative for erm(A) and erm(B) genes, were found to contain erm(T), a gene previously reported in erythromycin-resistant animal isolates of Lactobacillus spp. and human isolates of Streptococcus bovis. One additional GBS isolate, constitutively resistant to CLI, was also positive for the erm(T) gene in addition to erm(B). To our knowledge, this is the 1st report of erm(T) in GBS, the 2nd bacterial species from humans in which the erm(T) gene has been identified, and the 3rd erm gene to be found in GBS.