title: Transferable vanB2 Tn5382-containing elements in fecal streptococcal strains from veal calves.
abstract: Three vancomycin-resistant veal calf fecal streptococci, identified as Streptococcus gallolyticus (n = 2) and Streptococcus lutetiensis, were shown to harbor vanB2 Tn5382-like elements earlier described in enterococci. One S. gallolyticus strain had a 1,495-bp IS256-related element inserted in vanS(B). The vanB2 Tn5382 element present in the plasmid-free S. lutetiensis strain was transferable to Enterococcus faecium BM4105-RF, Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2, and its recombination-deficient derivative, UV202. The transfer frequencies were comparable between recipient strains (from 1 x 10(-7) to 7 x 10(-6)). All transconjugants acquired a vanB-containing chromosomal insert of approximately 100 kb, apparently by site-specific integration. Secondary transconjugants were not observed in intraspecies retransfer experiments. These observations are consistent with a conjugative, selftransmissible, integrative element that might be involved in the interspecies spread of vanB2 resistance determinants. Two JH2-2-derived transconjugants had also gained additional copies of large vanB-containing chromosomal fragments, a process that involves unexplained mechanisms that seems to require functional host cell-dependent recombination mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Virology, University of Tromsø, Norway. kristind@fagmed.uit.no
authors.forename: Kristin H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.forename: Arnfinn
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sundsfjord
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002417:Cattle; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D009876:Operon / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000235:genetics*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C079913:VanB protein, Enterococcus; C095500:SodA protein, Bacteria; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase