Possible horizontal transfer of the vanB2 gene among genetically diverse strains of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in a Korean hospital.
A total of 25 isolates of vanB-containing Enterococcus faecium were recovered from patients in a single Korean hospital over a 20-month period. There were two distinct vanB2 patterns among the 11 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis types; 17 contained the prototype vanB2 and 8 contained a novel vanB2 with a 177-bp deletion in vanY(B). Both vanB2 genes were transmissible in vitro at a mean frequency of 1.1 x 10(-8) transconjugants/donor. These results suggest the horizontal spread of vanB2 is occurring among genetically diverse strains of E. faecium in Korean hospitals.
Department of Clinical Pathology, Ajou University School of Medicine, San 5, Wonchun-Dong, Paldal-Gu, Suwon 442-749, Korea. weegyo@madang.ajou.ac.kr
W G
WG
Lee
J A
JA
Jernigan
J K
JK
Rasheed
G J
GJ
Anderson
F C
FC
Tenover
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000379:methods; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C079913:VanB protein, Enterococcus