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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 2000, p. 2341-2348, Vol. 44, No. 9
0066-4804/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Identification and Characterization of vanB2 Glycopeptide Resistance Elements in Enterococci Isolated in Scotland

K. F. McGregor and H.-K. Young*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom

Received 6 March 2000/Returned for modification 4 May 2000/Accepted 14 June 2000

Thirty-two vanB glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (28 Enterococcus faecium and 4 Enterococcus faecalis) were collected from hospitalized patients in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen, Scotland, and the vanB element in each was compared to vanB1 of E. faecalis strain ATCC 51299. HhaI digestion of PCR fragments of the vanB ligase gene was used to identify vanB subtypes. All E. faecium isolates were vanB2, and all E. faecalis isolates were vanB1. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of a 5,180-bp vanSB-vanXB long-PCR fragment of the vanB cluster showed the loss of HaeII restriction sites in vanSB, vanW, and vanXB in strains containing a vanB2 ligase gene. Partial sequences of genes in the vanB2 cluster for two genomically distinct Scottish isolates were >99.8% identical to each other. vanSB2, vanXB2, and vanB2 sequences differed at the nucleotide level from those of vanSB, vanXB, and vanB by 4.2, 4.6, and 4.8%, respectively. The vanB2 resistance element appears to be widespread among VanB glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium strains isolated in Scottish hospitals.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, United Kingdom. Phone: 44-1382-344270. Fax: 44-1382-344275. E-mail: h.k.young{at}dundee.ac.uk.


Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 2000, p. 2341-2348, Vol. 44, No. 9
0066-4804/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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