DNA sequence resembling vanA and vanB in the vancomycin-resistant biopesticide Bacillus popilliae.
The origin of high-level vancomycin resistance in enterococci is unknown. Biopesticidal powders containing spores of Bacillus popilliae, which is vancomycin-resistant, have been used for >50 years in the United States for suppression of Japanese beetle populations. Using a polymerase chain reaction assay designed to amplify the vanB gene in enterococci, an amplicon in B. popilliae was identified and sequenced. The putative ligase gene in B. popilliae had 76.8% and 68.4%-68.9% nucleotide identity to the sequences of the vanA and vanB genes, respectively. There was 75.3% and 69.3%-69.9% identity between the translation of the putative ligase gene in B. popilliae and the translation of the vanA and vanB genes, respectively. We have identified a gene resembling vanA and vanB in B. popilliae. The gene in B. popilliae may have been a precursor to or have had an ancestral gene in common with vancomycin resistance genes in enterococci.
Rippere
K
K
Division of Clinical Microbiology, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota 55902, USA.
Patel
R
R
Uhl
J R
JR
Piper
K E
KE
Steckelberg
J M
JM
Kline
B C
BC
Cockerill
F R
FR
Yousten
A A
AA
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001407:Bacillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010575:Pesticides; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014640:Vancomycin
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010575:Pesticides; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; C079913:VanB protein, Enterococcus; D014640:Vancomycin; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases