title: The first report of the vanC₁ gene in Enterococcus faecium isolated from a human clinical specimen.
abstract: The vanC₁ gene, which is chromosomally located, confers resistance to vancomycin and serves as a species marker for Enterococcus gallinarum. Enterococcus faecium TJ4031 was isolated from a blood culture and harbours the vanC₁gene. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were performed to detect vanXYc and vanTc genes. Only the vanXYc gene was found in the E. faecium TJ4031 isolate. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of vancomycin and teicoplanin were 2 µg/mL and 1 µg/mL, respectively. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR results revealed that the vanC₁ and vanXYc genes were not expressed. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and southern hybridisation results showed that the vanC₁ gene was encoded in the chromosome. E. faecalis isolated from animals has been reported to harbour vanC₁gene. However, this study is the first to report the presence of the vanC₁gene in E. faecium of human origin. Additionally, our research showed the vanC₁gene cannot serve as a species-specific gene of E. gallinarum and that it is able to be transferred between bacteria. Although the resistance marker is not expressed in the strain, our results showed that E. faecium could acquire the vanC₁gene from different species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Mingyue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Zhongju
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xuhui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Ziyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000235:genetics; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000502:physiology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017334:Teicoplanin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D065507:Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C079914:VanC protein, Bacteria; D017334:Teicoplanin; D014640:Vancomycin