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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2007, p. 2813-2818, Vol. 45, No. 9
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00457-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Characterization of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium Isolates from Mainland China{triangledown}

Bo Zheng,1,3 Haruyoshi Tomita,1* Yong Hong Xiao,3 Shan Wang,3 Yun Li,3 and Yasuyoshi Ike1,2

Department of Bacteriology and Bacterial Infection Control,1 Laboratory of Bacterial Drug Resistance, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan,2 Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China3

Received 28 February 2007/ Returned for modification 20 April 2007/ Accepted 11 June 2007

Little is known about vancomycin-resistant enterococci in China. Thirteen pulsed-field gel electrophoresis-confirmed heterogeneous VanA-type vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) isolates were obtained from five Chinese hospitals from 2001 to 2005. The isolates were typed by multilocus sequence typing into nine different sequence types (STs), including five new STs (ST18, ST25, ST78, ST203, ST320, ST321, ST322, ST323, and ST335). Vancomycin resistance in each isolate was encoded on conjugative plasmids; two of the plasmids, pZB18 (67 kbp) and pZB22 (200 kbp), were highly conjugative and were able to transfer at high frequencies of around 10–4 and 10–7 per donor cell in broth mating, respectively. None of the plasmids identified in these isolates carried traA, which is usually conserved in the pMG1-like highly conjugative plasmid for E. faecium, implying that pZB18 and pZB22 were novel types of a highly conjugative plasmid in enterococci. Thirteen Tn1546-like elements encoding VanA-type VRE on the conjugative plasmids were classified into six types (types I to VI), and most of them contained both IS1216V and IS1542 insertions. The isolates carrying the type II element were predominant. The six type elements were different from that of a VanA-type Enterococcus faecalis strain isolated from Chinese chicken meat. The results suggested that the disseminations of VRE in these areas were by Tn1546-like elements being acquired by the conjugative plasmids and transferred among E. faecium strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Bacteriology and Bacterial Infection Control, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan. Phone: 81-27-220-7992. Fax: 81-27-220-7996. E-mail: tomitaha{at}med.gunma-u.ac.jp

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 18 July 2007.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2007, p. 2813-2818, Vol. 45, No. 9
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00457-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Zheng, B., Tomita, H., Inoue, T., Ike, Y. (2009). Isolation of VanB-Type Enterococcus faecalis Strains from Nosocomial Infections: First Report of the Isolation and Identification of the Pheromone-Responsive Plasmids pMG2200, Encoding VanB-Type Vancomycin Resistance and a Bac41-Type Bacteriocin, and pMG2201, Encoding Erythromycin Resistance and Cytolysin (Hly/Bac). Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 735-747 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Novais, C., Freitas, A. R., Sousa, J. C., Baquero, F., Coque, T. M., Peixe, L. V. (2008). Diversity of Tn1546 and Its Role in the Dissemination of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Portugal. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1001-1008 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Qu, T.-t., Chen, Y.-g., Yu, Y.-s., Lv, H.-x., Dong, X.-q., Xiao, Z., Gu, H.-q., Li, L.-j. (2007). Molecular characterization of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Hangzhou, China. J Antimicrob Chemother 60: 1403-1405 [Full Text]  


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