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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2000, p. 967-971, Vol. 44, No. 4
0066-4804/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Macrolide Resistance Genes in Enterococcus spp.

Aránzazu Portillo,1 Fernanda Ruiz-Larrea,1 Myriam Zarazaga,1 Ana Alonso,2 Jose Luis Martinez,2 and Carmen Torres1,*

Area Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de La Rioja, 26004 Logroño,1 and Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Campus UAM, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid,2 Spain

Received 15 July 1999/Returned for modification 10 November 1999/Accepted 30 December 1999

Seventy-eight isolates of different Enterococcus species (E. faecalis, n = 27; E. faecium, n = 23; E. durans, n = 8; E. avium, n = 6; E. hirae, n = 9; E. gallinarum, n = 3; and E. casseliflavus, n = 2) with a variety of erythromycin resistance phenotypes were examined for the presence of macrolide resistance genes (ermA, ermB, ermC, ermTR, mefA/E, and msrA). Positive PCR amplifications of ermB were obtained for 39 of 40 highly erythromycin-resistant Enterococcus isolates (MICs, >128 µg/ml) of different species; the remaining highly resistant E. faecium isolate was positive for PCR amplification of ermA but was negative for PCR amplification of the ermB and ermC genes. For all enterococcal strains for which erythromycin MICs were <= 32 µg/ml PCRs were negative for erm methylase genes. For all E. faecium isolates PCR amplified products of the expected size of 400 bp were obtained when msrA primers were used, with the results being independent of the erythromycin resistance phenotype. All the other enterococcal species gave negative results by msrA PCRs. Sequencing of the msrA PCR products from either erythromycin-susceptible, low-level-resistant, or highly resistant E. faecium strains showed that the amplicons did not correspond to the msrA gene described for Staphylococcus epidermidis but corresponded to a new putative efflux determinant, which showed 62% identity with the msrA gene at the DNA level and 72% similarity at the amino acid level. This new gene was named msrC.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Area de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Avenida de la Paz 105, Universidad de La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, Spain. Phone: 34-941-299284. Fax: 34-941-299274. E-mail: carmen.torres{at}daa.unirioja.es.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2000, p. 967-971, Vol. 44, No. 4
0066-4804/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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