Structures of resistance transposons and multilocus sequencing typing in vancomycin-resistant enterococci strains isolated from five hospitals in Hangzhou / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To determine the structures of resistance transposons and muhilocus sequencing typing(MLST)in the vancomycin resistant enterococcus(VRE).Methods Twenty-one VRE strains were isolated from five hospitals in Hangzhou.The resistance to antimicrobial agents was determined by Etest.Polymerase chain reaction(PCR),conjugation,plasmid extract,transposon structures,pulse field gel electrophoresis(PFGE),muhilocus sequencing typing(MLST),and multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis(MLVA)were carried out.Results All of the 21 VRE strains harbored the vanA gene.These strains were divided into 10 PFGE types,7 sequence types(STs)and 5 MLVA types.All of these VRE strains were susceptible to linezolid and tigecycline.The vanA genes in two VRE strains were located in transposon Tnl546,and those in the other 19 VRE strains were located in transpeson Tnl546- like,with ISl485 inserted in vanXY.Vancomycin resistance of 1 8 VRE isolates was transferred by filter mating. All of these conjugants had a plasmid containing a molecular size of about 54 000 bo.Conclusions These 21 VRE strains were all caused by the vanA gene and divided into 7 MIST types.A novel trasnposon was detected.Most of these VRE isolates belonged to the clonal complex(CC17)by MIST,which was the hospital-adapted and pandemic VRE clonal complex.