Open AccessComparative study of vanA gene transfer from Enterococcus faecium to Enterococcus faecalis and to Enterococcus faecium in the intestine of mice
Author(s) -
BourgeoisNicolaos Nadège,
Moubareck Carole,
Mangeney Nicole,
Butel MarieJosé,
DoucetPopulaire Florence
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2005.00004.x
Subject(s) - enterococcus faecium , enterococcus faecalis , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , enterococcus , streptococcaceae , bacteria , gene , escherichia coli , antibiotics , genetics
Vancomycin‐resistant enterococci represent a large reservoir in animals because of the use of avoparcin as a growth promoter in Europe. These strains of animal origin enter the food chain and can either colonize the human gut or transfer their resistance genes to the human microbiota. In this study, we compared the transfer of vancomycin resistance from resistant animal Enterococcus faecium to sensitive human Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium . We analysed these transfers in dibiotic mice and human faecal flora‐associated mice. VanA transfer from animal E. faecium to human E. faecalis occurred in dibiotic mice. The transconjugants appeared rapidly and persisted at levels between 3.0 and 4.0 log 10 colony‐forming units g −1 of faeces. In human faecal flora‐associated mice, vanA gene transfer was not detected towards E. faecalis but was possible between E. faecium strains. Our experiments revealed the possibility of vanA transfer from animal E. faecium to human E. faecalis in vitro and in vivo in the intestine of dibiotic mice. However, intraspecies transfer of vanA gene seems more common than interspecies transfer among enterococci.