VanE, a new type of acquired glycopeptide resistance in Enterococcus faecalis BM4405 - PubMed (original) (raw)

Comparative Study

VanE, a new type of acquired glycopeptide resistance in Enterococcus faecalis BM4405

M Fines et al. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1999 Sep.

Abstract

Enterococcus faecalis BM4405 was resistant to low levels of vancomycin (MIC, 16 microg/ml) and was susceptible to teicoplanin (MIC, 0.5 microg/ml). No PCR product was obtained when the total DNA of this clinical isolate was used as a template with primers specific for glycopeptide resistance genes vanA, vanB, vanC, and vanD. However, a 604-bp PCR fragment was obtained when V1 and V2 degenerate primers were used and total DNA was digested with HindIII as a template. The product was cloned and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence had greater identity (55%) with VanC than with VanA (45%), VanB (43%), or VanD (44%). This was consistent with the fact that BM4405 synthesized peptidoglycan precursors that terminated in D-serine residues. After induction with vancomycin, weak D,D-dipeptidase and penicillin-insensitive D,D-carboxypeptidase activities were detected in cytoplasmic extracts of BM4405, whereas a serine racemase activity was found in the membrane preparation. This new type of acquired glycopeptide resistance was named VanE.

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Figures

FIG. 1

FIG. 1

Sequence of the 604-bp PCR product internal to the vanE gene of E. faecalis BM4405 and the corresponding amino acid sequence.

FIG. 2

FIG. 2

Alignment of the deduced partial amino acid sequence of VanE and of the corresponding regions of VanA, VanB, VanC, VanD, and Efa, the

d

-Ala:

d

-Ala ligase of E. faecalis. The amino acids conserved in all the sequences are printed in boldface. Dots indicate gaps introduced to optimize sequence similarity. The conserved motif EKY(Q/N) present in VanC-type and VanE

d

-Ala:

d

-Ser ligases is underlined. GenBank accession numbers are as follows: X56895 for VanA, U35369 for VanB, M75132 for VanC, AF130997 for VanD, AF136925 for VanE, and U00457 for the

d

-Ala:

d

-Ala ligase for E. faecalis.

References

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