A vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) isolate was obtained from a patient in Pennsylvania in September 2002. Species identification was confirmed by standard biochemical tests and analysis of 16S ribosomal DNA, gyrA, and gyrB sequences; all of the results were consistent with the S. aureus identification. The MICs of a variety of antimicrobial agents were determined by broth micro...

In Comamonas testosteroni strain BR6020, metabolism of isovanillate (iVan; 3-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzoate), vanillate (Van; 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoate), and veratrate (Ver; 3,4-dimethoxybenzoate) proceeds via protocatechuate (Pca; 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate). A 13.4-kb locus coding for the catabolic enzymes that channel the three substrates to Pca was cloned. O demethylation is mediated by the phthala...

Enterococci with resistance to glycopeptides have recently emerged in Australia. We developed multiplex PCR assays for vanA, vanB, vanC1, and vanC2 or vanC3 in order to examine the genetic basis for vancomycin resistance in Australian isolates of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis (VRE). The predominant genotype from human clinical E. faecium isolates was vanB. The PCR va...

Hospital-acquired infections caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are increasing. The resistance of VRE to multiple antibiotics makes them clinically challenging. There are at least six phenotypes of VRE, including VanA, VanB, VanC, VanD, VanE, and VanG (2, 8). These phenotypes correspond with the genotypes vanA, vanB, vanC, vanD, vanE, and vanG. VanA and VanB phenotypes are common ...

AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the VRE frequency and the rate of each gene in isolated enterococci from patients with intestinal infection in the central region of Iran. BACKGROUND Enterococci infections are a public health growing concern due to the glycopeptide antibiotics resistance especially vancomycin. Genes, vanA, B, and H contribute to the influence of vancomycin-resista...

OBJECTIVES To determine the fitness effects of various mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis when newly acquired. We also tested the hypothesis that the biological cost of vancomycin resistance plasmids could be mitigated during continuous growth in the laboratory. METHODS Different MGEs, including two conjugative transposons (CTns) of the Tn916 fami...

Advances in synthetic biology have enabled robust control of cell behavior by using tunable genetic circuits to regulate gene expression a ligand-dependent manner. Such can be used direct the differentiation pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) towards desired types, but rational design PSCs is challenging due variable intracellular environment. Here, we provide framework for implementing switches bas...

Although enterococci expressing acquired vancomycin resistance phenotype have been reported increasingly worldwide, they have been rarely reported in France. From August to December 2004 we faced an outbreak of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) isolates in the nephrology department at Bicêtre Hospital (K.-Bicêtre, France). The expression of the glycopeptide resistance varied among...

OBJECTIVES The most prevalent type of acquired glycopeptide resistance is encoded by the vanA transposon Tn1546 located mainly on transferable plasmids in Enterococcus faecium. The limited occurrence in other species could be due to the lack of inter-species transferability and/or stability of Tn1546-containing plasmids in other species. We investigated the in vitro transferability of 14 pre-ch...