Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1992 Sep;36(9):2005–2008. doi: 10.1128/aac.36.9.2005

Vancomycin resistance gene vanC is specific to Enterococcus gallinarum.

R Leclercq 1, S Dutka-Malen 1, J Duval 1, P Courvalin 1
PMCID: PMC192426  PMID: 1416893

Abstract

Nearly all strains of Enterococcus gallinarum are resistant to low levels of vancomycin. The glycopeptide resistance gene vanC from E. gallinarum BM4174 has recently been cloned and sequenced. A probe specific for vanC hybridized with a 2.7-kb EcoRI and a 4.5-kb HindIII fragment of total DNA from the 42 strains of E. gallinarum studied. No homology was detected with DNA of strains belonging to other species intrinsically resistant to vancomycin, including Enterococcus casseliflavus, a species that expresses a vancomycin resistance phenotype similar to that of E. gallinarum. No hybridization with DNA of enterococcal strains with acquired resistance to high or low levels of vancomycin was observed. The specificity of the vanC probe allowed us to distinguish E. gallinarum from 12 other species of enterococci, indicating that this probe is a useful tool for species identification within the genus Enterococcus.

Full text

PDF
2005

Images in this article

2007Image
on p.2007

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bugg T. D., Dutka-Malen S., Arthur M., Courvalin P., Walsh C. T. Identification of vancomycin resistance protein VanA as a D-alanine:D-alanine ligase of altered substrate specificity. Biochemistry. 1991 Feb 26;30(8):2017–2021. doi: 10.1021/bi00222a002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bugg T. D., Wright G. D., Dutka-Malen S., Arthur M., Courvalin P., Walsh C. T. Molecular basis for vancomycin resistance in Enterococcus faecium BM4147: biosynthesis of a depsipeptide peptidoglycan precursor by vancomycin resistance proteins VanH and VanA. Biochemistry. 1991 Oct 29;30(43):10408–10415. doi: 10.1021/bi00107a007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Carlier C., Courvalin P. Emergence of 4',4"-aminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferase in enterococci. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1990 Aug;34(8):1565–1569. doi: 10.1128/aac.34.8.1565. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Collins M. D., Rodrigues U. M., Pigott N. E., Facklam R. R. Enterococcus dispar sp. nov. a new Enterococcus species from human sources. Lett Appl Microbiol. 1991 Mar;12(3):95–98. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-765x.1991.tb00514.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Courvalin P. Resistance of enterococci to glycopeptides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1990 Dec;34(12):2291–2296. doi: 10.1128/aac.34.12.2291. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dutka-Malen S., Leclercq R., Coutant V., Duval J., Courvalin P. Phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity of glycopeptide resistance determinants in gram-positive bacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1990 Oct;34(10):1875–1879. doi: 10.1128/aac.34.10.1875. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dutka-Malen S., Molinas C., Arthur M., Courvalin P. Sequence of the vanC gene of Enterococcus gallinarum BM4174 encoding a D-alanine:D-alanine ligase-related protein necessary for vancomycin resistance. Gene. 1992 Mar 1;112(1):53–58. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(92)90302-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dutka-Malen S., Molinas C., Arthur M., Courvalin P. The VANA glycopeptide resistance protein is related to D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase cell wall biosynthesis enzymes. Mol Gen Genet. 1990 Dec;224(3):364–372. doi: 10.1007/BF00262430. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Facklam R. R., Collins M. D. Identification of Enterococcus species isolated from human infections by a conventional test scheme. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Apr;27(4):731–734. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.4.731-734.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fantin B., Leclercq R., Arthur M., Duval J., Carbon C. Influence of low-level resistance to vancomycin on efficacy of teicoplanin and vancomycin for treatment of experimental endocarditis due to Enterococcus faecium. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1991 Aug;35(8):1570–1575. doi: 10.1128/aac.35.8.1570. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hu N., Messing J. The making of strand-specific M13 probes. Gene. 1982 Mar;17(3):271–277. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90143-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jacob A. E., Hobbs S. J. Conjugal transfer of plasmid-borne multiple antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus faecalis var. zymogenes. J Bacteriol. 1974 Feb;117(2):360–372. doi: 10.1128/jb.117.2.360-372.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Le Bouguénec C., de Cespédès G., Horaud T. Presence of chromosomal elements resembling the composite structure Tn3701 in streptococci. J Bacteriol. 1990 Feb;172(2):727–734. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.2.727-734.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Leclercq R., Derlot E., Duval J., Courvalin P. Plasmid-mediated resistance to vancomycin and teicoplanin in Enterococcus faecium. N Engl J Med. 1988 Jul 21;319(3):157–161. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198807213190307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Leclercq R., Derlot E., Weber M., Duval J., Courvalin P. Transferable vancomycin and teicoplanin resistance in Enterococcus faecium. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1989 Jan;33(1):10–15. doi: 10.1128/aac.33.1.10. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sahm D. F., Kissinger J., Gilmore M. S., Murray P. R., Mulder R., Solliday J., Clarke B. In vitro susceptibility studies of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1989 Sep;33(9):1588–1591. doi: 10.1128/aac.33.9.1588. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Shlaes D. M., Etter L., Gutmann L. Synergistic killing of vancomycin-resistant enterococci of classes A, B, and C by combinations of vancomycin, penicillin, and gentamicin. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1991 Apr;35(4):776–779. doi: 10.1128/aac.35.4.776. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Swenson J. M., Hill B. C., Thornsberry C. Problems with the disk diffusion test for detection of vancomycin resistance in enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Sep;27(9):2140–2142. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.9.2140-2142.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Vincent S., Knight R. G., Green M., Sahm D. F., Shlaes D. M. Vancomycin susceptibility and identification of motile enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Oct;29(10):2335–2337. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.10.2335-2337.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Williamson R., Al-Obeid S., Shlaes J. H., Goldstein F. W., Shlaes D. M. Inducible resistance to vancomycin in Enterococcus faecium D366. J Infect Dis. 1989 Jun;159(6):1095–1104. doi: 10.1093/infdis/159.6.1095. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Williamson R., Gutmann L., Horaud T., Delbos F., Acar J. F. Use of penicillin-binding proteins for the identification of enterococci. J Gen Microbiol. 1986 Jul;132(7):1929–1937. doi: 10.1099/00221287-132-7-1929. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES