A New Variant of the aadE-sat4-aphA-3 Gene Cluster Found in a Conjugative Plasmid from a MDR Campylobacter jejuni Isolate

is a foodborne pathogen causing bacterial gastroenteritis, with the highest incidence reported in Europe. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in , as well as in many other bacterial pathogens, has increased over the last few years. In this report, we describe the presence of a plasmid in a multi-drug-resistant strain isolated from a gastroenteritis patient. Mating experiments demonstrated the transference of this genetic element (pCjH01) among by plasmid conjugation. The pCjH01 plasmid was sequenced and assembled, revealing high similarity (97% identity) with pTet, a described tetracycline resistance encoding plasmid. pCjH01 (47.7 kb) is a mosaic plasmid composed of a pTet backbone that has acquired two discrete DNA regions. Remarkably, one of the acquired sequences carried an undescribed variant of the gene cluster, providing resistance to at least kanamycin and gentamycin. Aside from the antibiotic resistance genes, the cluster also carries genes coding for putative regulators, such as a sigma factor of the RNA polymerase and an antisigma factor. Homology searches suggest that exchanges genetic material with distant G-positive bacterial genera.