title: vanA genes in vancomycin-resistant clinical isolates of Oerskovia turbata and Arcanobacterium (Corynebacterium) haemolyticum.
abstract: We report the cloning and sequencing of vanA genes present in the high-level vancomycin- and teicoplanin-resistant clinical isolates Oerskovia turbata 892 and Arcanobacterium (Corynebacterium) haemolyticum 872. The presence of vanA was detected by Southern blotting and PCR and confirmed by DNA sequencing. vanA-like sequences were encoded on plasmids of 15 and 20 kb respectively. The A. haemolyticum 872 DNA sequence was identical to the published vanA sequence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium BM4147, but the O. turbata 892 sequence showed three coding changes. Induction experiments indicated that vancomycin resistance in A. haemolyticum 872 and O. turbata 892 was constitutive. SDS-PAGE analysis of membrane proteins showed the presence of a c. 39 kD protein in both clinical isolates whose expression was unaltered in the presence of vancomycin, while a similar protein in E. faecium BM4147 was inducible. Since A. haemolyticum and O. turbata are naturally susceptible to vancomycin, the high-level constitutive resistance seen in these isolates appears to be mediated by vanA. This is the first report confirming the presence of vanA in genera other than Enterococcus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, United Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Power
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Abdulla
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Talsania
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Spice
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aathithan
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D000191:Actinomycetaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D000193:Actinomycetales Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; D014640:Vancomycin; D008025:Ligases; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases