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Putative VanRS-Like Two-Component Regulatory System Associated with the Inducible Glycopeptide Resistance Cluster of Paenibacillus popilliae

Henry Fraimow,^1* Christopher Knob,¹ Inmaculada A. Herrero,^2, and Robin Patel²

Division of Infectious Diseases, Cooper Health System and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 401 Haddon Avenue, Room 274, Camden, New Jersey 08103,¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 200 First Street Southwest, Rochester, Minnesota 55905²

Received 17 November 2004/ Returned for modification 17 December 2004/ Accepted 26 February 2005

Paenibacillus popilliae contains vanF encoding a putative D-Ala:D-lactate (D-Lac) ligase, VanF, as part of the vanY_FZ_FH_FFX_F cluster that is similar in structure to the enterococcal vanA and vanB clusters. Using growth curves, we demonstrated that vancomycin resistance in P. popilliae is inducible. Using degenerate oligonucleotides targeted at bacterial cell wall ligases, we identified a second ligase gene with features of a D-Ala:D-Ala ligase in both P. popilliae and the related, vancomycin-susceptible, Paenibacillus lentimorbus. The 3,380-bp region upstream of vanY_FZ_FH_FFX_F in P. popilliae ATCC 14706 was sequenced and found to contain genes encoding a putative two-component regulator, VanR_FS_F, similar to VanRS but more closely related to a family of two-component regulators linked to VanY-like carboxypeptidases in several glycopeptide-susceptible Bacillus species. This upstream region also included a transposase similar to a transposase found in Bacillus halodurans and, in some strains, a 99-bp insertion of unknown function with 95% nucleotide identity to a portion of the Tn1546 transposase gene. Analysis of glycopeptide resistance-associated clusters from soil and/or insect-dwelling organisms may provide important clues to the molecular evolution of acquired glycopeptide resistance elements in human pathogens.

Present address: Sanidad Animal Facultad de Veterinaria (UCM), Av. Puerta de Hierro s/n, Madrid, Spain 28040.

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