title: Identification and characterization of IS1476, an insertion sequence-like element that disrupts VanY function in a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium strain.
abstract: The vanY gene of vancomycin-resistant enterococci encodes a D,D-carboxypeptidase. By using a PCR detection strategy, a VanA Enterococcus faecium clinical isolate was found to have an insertion sequence (IS)-like element designated IS1476 in vanY. The activity of the VanY D,D-carboxypeptidase in this isolate was decreased in a fluorometric fluoraldehyde o-phthalaldehyde assay with diacetyl-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala as the substrate. This, to our knowledge, is the first report of an IS-like element in a vancomycin resistance gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: MacKinnon
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Drebot
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Tyrrell
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D014640:Vancomycin