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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, November 2007, p. 4111-4117, Vol. 51, No. 11
0066-4804/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00584-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

vanD and vanG-Like Gene Clusters in a Ruminococcus Species Isolated from Human Bowel Flora{triangledown}

M.-C. Domingo,1,2 A. Huletsky,1,2 R. Giroux,1 F. J. Picard,1,2 and M. G. Bergeron1,2*

Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie de l'Université Laval, CHUQ, Pavillon CHUL, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 4G2,1 Division de Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada2

Received 3 May 2007/ Returned for modification 14 June 2007/ Accepted 20 August 2007

A vancomycin-resistant, anaerobic, gram-positive coccus containing the vanD and vanG-like genes (strain CCRI-16110) was isolated from a human fecal specimen during a hospital surveillance program to detect carriers of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain CCRI-16110 with databases revealed a potentially novel Ruminococcus species that was most similar (<94% identity) to Clostridium and Ruminococcus species. Strain CCRI-16110 was highly resistant to vancomycin and teicoplanin (MICs of >256 µg/ml). The complete DNA sequence of the vanD cluster was most similar (98.2% identity) to that of Enterococcus faecium BM4339, containing the vanD1 allele. An intD gene with 99% identity with that of this E. faecium strain was found to be associated with the vanD gene cluster of this novel anaerobic bacterium. Strain CCRI-16110 also harbors genes encoding putative VanSG, VanG, and VanTG proteins displaying 56, 73.6, and 55% amino acid sequence identity, respectively, compared to the corresponding proteins encoded by the vanG1 and vanG2 operons of Enterococcus faecalis BM4518 and N03-0233. This study reports for the first time an anaerobic bacterium containing the vanD gene cluster. This strain also harbors a partial vanG-like gene cluster. The presence of vanD- and vanG-containing anaerobic bacteria in the human bowel flora suggests that these bacteria may serve as a reservoir for the vanD and vanG vancomycin resistance genes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie de l'Université Laval, CHUQ (Pavillon CHUL), 2705 boul. Laurier, Québec, Québec G1V 4G2, Canada. Phone: (418) 654-2705. Fax: (418) 654-2715. E-mail: michel.g.bergeron{at}crchul.ulaval.ca

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 27 August 2007.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, November 2007, p. 4111-4117, Vol. 51, No. 11
0066-4804/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00584-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Depardieu, F., Foucault, M.-L., Bell, J., Dubouix, A., Guibert, M., Lavigne, J.-P., Levast, M., Courvalin, P. (2009). New Combinations of Mutations in VanD-Type Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterococcus avium Strains. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 1952-1963 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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