The sequence and gene organization of the van operons in vancomycin (MIC of >256 microg/ml)- and teicoplanin (MIC of > or =32 microg/ml)-resistant Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus PT-2B1 and Paenibacillus apiarius PA-B2B isolated from soil were determined. Both operons had regulatory (vanR and vanS), resistance (vanH, vanA, and vanX), and accessory (vanY, vanZ, and vanW) genes homologous to the co...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Infection with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) has caused a therapeutic problem. VanA and VanB resistant types are the predominant phenotypes among vancomycin resistant enetrococci. Transposon 1546 (Tn1546) harboring the vanA gene cluster, plays an important role in the horizontal transfer of vanA gene. In this study, we examined the phenotypic and genotypic div...

OBJECTIVE To perform molecular typing of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE) strains endemic in various hospitals of Karachi, to characterize the mechanism of glycopeptide resistance and assess the genetic relatedness, for understanding its transmission locally. METHOD This was a cross sectional study conducted in the clinical and research laboratory of Aga Khan University Hospital (...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Enterococci, classified as group D streptococci, are the second leading cause of nosocomial infections. The incidence of enterococcal infections and species prevalent in India is not thoroughly investigated. The present study was undertaken to isolate and characterize enterococci from clinical specimens and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of these isol...

Enterococcus faecalis BM4405 was resistant to low levels of vancomycin (MIC, 16 microg/ml) and was susceptible to teicoplanin (MIC, 0.5 microg/ml). No PCR product was obtained when the total DNA of this clinical isolate was used as a template with primers specific for glycopeptide resistance genes vanA, vanB, vanC, and vanD. However, a 604-bp PCR fragment was obtained when V1 and V2 degenerate ...

VRE species are an increasingly important and universal problem in intensive care units and hematology-oncology departments due to the spread of glycopeptide resistance. Rapid and accurate identification of VRE is therefore crucial. The intent of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of a real-time PCR test, the BD GeneOhm VanR assay (GeneXpert vanA/ vanB, Cepheid, USA), with con...

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are increasingly important nosocomial pathogens and screening for colonization status is a mainstay in infection control. We implemented PCR-based screening during vanA-positive Enterococcus faecium outbreaks in four university hospitals in Copenhagen, Denmark. Xpert®vanA/vanB was performed directly on rectal swabs and the vanA PCR result was used to guide...

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 t...

The distribution characteristics of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and the resistance of enterococcus isolates to various antibiotics were investigated in Yae River, which flows through Miyazaki city, Japan. The prevalence of VRE among specimens collected from the urban river basin using mEI agar was 0.9% (2 of 226 enterococcal isolates). In the 333 enterococcal isolates obtained using ...