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Variation within the vat(E) allele of Enterococcus faecium isolates from retail poultry samples.

ABSTRACT: In a survey of retail meat samples, twelve quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant (MICs, > or =4 mg/liter) Enterococcus faecium isolates that carried a vat(E) gene were recovered. DNA sequence comparison revealed five new variations in the vat(E) allele among 12 isolates, which were designated vat(E-4) through vat(E-8); two isolates had vat(E-1). There was no correlation between the number of base changes and the quinupristin-dalfopristin MIC.

SUBMITTER: Simjee S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC90756 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Variation within the vat(E) allele of Enterococcus faecium isolates from retail poultry samples.

Simjee S S McDermott P F PF Wagner D D DD White D G DG

Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 20011001 10

In a survey of retail meat samples, twelve quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant (MICs, > or =4 mg/liter) Enterococcus faecium isolates that carried a vat(E) gene were recovered. DNA sequence comparison revealed five new variations in the vat(E) allele among 12 isolates, which were designated vat(E-4) through vat(E-8); two isolates had vat(E-1). There was no correlation between the number of base changes and the quinupristin-dalfopristin MIC. ...[more]

PMID: 11557494

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Project description:The emergence of antimicrobial-resistant and virulent enterococci is a major public health concern. While enterococci are commonly found in food of animal origin, the knowledge on their zoonotic potential is limited. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence traits of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium isolates from human clinical specimens and retail red meat in Slovenia. A total of 242 isolates were investigated: 101 from humans (71 E. faecalis, 30 E. faecium) and 141 from fresh beef and pork (120 E. faecalis, 21 E. faecium). The susceptibility to 12 antimicrobials was tested using a broth microdilution method, and the presence of seven common virulence genes was investigated using PCR. In both species, the distribution of several resistance phenotypes and virulence genes was disparate for isolates of different origin. All isolates were susceptible to daptomycin, linezolid, teicoplanin, and vancomycin. In both species, the susceptibility to antimicrobials was strongly associated with a food origin and the multidrug resistance, observed in 29.6% of E. faecalis and 73.3% E. faecium clinical isolates, with a clinical origin (Fisher's exact test). Among meat isolates, in total 66.0% of E. faecalis and E. faecium isolates were susceptible to all antimicrobials tested and 32.6% were resistant to either one or two antimicrobials. In E. faecalis, several virulence genes were significantly associated with a clinical origin; the most common (31.0%) gene pattern included all the tested genes except hyl. In meat isolates, the virulence genes were detected in E. faecalis only and the most common pattern included ace, efaA, and gelE (32.5%), of which gelE showed a statistically significant association with a clinical origin. These results emphasize the importance of E. faecalis in red meat as a reservoir of virulence genes involved in its persistence and human infections with reported severe outcomes.

Project description:Chlorhexidine (CHX) is a broad-spectrum antiseptic widely used in community and clinical contexts for many years that has recently acquired higher relevance in nosocomial infection control worldwide. Despite this, CHX tolerance among Enterococcus faecium bacteria, representing one of the leading agents causing nosocomial infections, has been poorly understood. This study provides new phenotypic and molecular data for better identification of CHX-tolerant E. faecium subpopulations in community and clinical contexts. The chlorhexidine MIC (MICCHX) distribution of 106 E. faecium isolates suggested the occurrence of tolerant subpopulations in diverse sources (human, animal, food, environment) and phylogenomic backgrounds (clades A1/A2/B), with predominance in clade A1. They carried a specific variant of the 2CS-CHXT operon, identified here. It encodes glucose and amino acid-polyamine-organocation family transporters, besides the DNA-binding response regulator ChtR, with a P102H mutation previously described only in CHX-tolerant clade A1 E. faecium, and the ChtS sensor. 2CS-CHXT seems to be associated with three regulons modulating diverse bacterial biological functions. Combined data from normal MIC distribution and 2CS-CHXT operon characterization support a tentative epidemiological cutoff (ECOFF) of 8?mg/liter to CHX, which is useful to detect tolerant E. faecium populations in future surveillance studies. The spread of tolerant E. faecium in diverse epidemiological backgrounds calls for the prudent use of CHX in multiple contexts.IMPORTANCE Chlorhexidine is one of the substances included in the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines, which comprises the safest and most effective medicines needed in global health systems. Although it has been widely applied as a disinfectant and antiseptic in health care (skin, hands, mouthwashes, eye drops) since the 1950s, its use in hospitals to prevent nosocomial infections has increased worldwide in recent years. Here, we provide a comprehensive study on chlorhexidine tolerance among strains of Enterococcus faecium, one of the leading nosocomial agents worldwide, and identify a novel 2CS-CHXT operon as a signature of tolerant strains occurring in diverse phylogenomic groups. Our data allowed for the proposal of a tentative epidemiological cutoff of 8?mg/liter, which is useful to detect tolerant E. faecium populations in surveillance studies in community and clinical contexts. The prediction of 2CS-CHXT regulons will also facilitate the design of future experimental studies to better uncover chlorhexidine tolerance among E. faecium bacteria.

Dataset Information

Variation within the vat(E) allele of Enterococcus faecium isolates from retail poultry samples.

Publications

Variation within the vat(E) allele of Enterococcus faecium isolates from retail poultry samples.

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