Plasmid mediated VanB Glycopeptide resistance in Enterococci.

Woodford, N; Morrison, Donald; Johnson, A P; Bateman, A C; Hasting, J G; Elliott, T S; Cookson, B D

Plasmid mediated VanB Glycopeptide resistance in Enterococci.

Woodford, N; Morrison, Donald; Johnson, A P; Bateman, A C; Hasting, J G; Elliott, T S; Cookson, B D

Authors

N Woodford

Dr Donald Morrison D.Morrison2@napier.ac.uk
Associate Professor

A P Johnson

A C Bateman

J G Hasting

T S Elliott

B D Cookson

Abstract

Enterococcus faecium, which was highly resistant to vancomycin (MIC 256 mg/liter), but susceptible to teicoplanin (MIC 2 mg/liter), caused two distinct episodes of infection on a renal unit in the United Kingdom. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) indicated that a single strain caused the first episode, while the second episode, which occurred 1 year later, involved multiple strains, all of which were distinct from the original strain. Vancomycin resistance in all but one of these strains was mediated by transferable plasmids that carried the vanB glycopeptide resistance gene. Transfer either of resistance plasmids or the vanB resistance determinant itself to different strains occurred during the second episode. Plasmid-mediated vanB resistance has not been widely documented. A retrospective study of a reference collection revealed two other vanB-encoding plasmids from an E. faecalis and an E. faecium referred from two further UK centers. Although restriction analysis indicated no similarity between the plasmids from the three different centers, all contained a 2.1-kb EcoRV fragment that hybridized with a probe for the vanB gene. This suggests that there has been dissemination of a conserved glycopeptide resistance determinant, of which vanB is a part.

Citation

Woodford, N., Morrison, D., Johnson, A. P., Bateman, A. C., Hasting, J. G., Elliott, T. S., & Cookson, B. D. (1995). Plasmid mediated VanB Glycopeptide resistance in Enterococci. Microbial Drug Resistance, 1, 235-240

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	1995
Deposit Date	Jun 11, 2015
Print ISSN	1076-6294
Electronic ISSN	1931-8448
Publisher	Mary Ann Liebert
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	1
Pages	235-240
Keywords	Enterococcus faecium; vancomycin; teicoplanin; Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE); Vancomycin resistance; vanB glycopeptide resistance gene;
Public URL	http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/8654