Open AccessEvidence for a staphylococcal-like mercury resistance gene in Enterococcus faecalis
Author(s) -
Karen K. Zscheck,
Barbara E. Murray
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.07
H-Index - 259
eISSN - 1070-6283
pISSN - 0066-4804
DOI - 10.1128/aac.34.6.1287
Subject(s) - enterococcus faecalis , mercury (programming language) , microbiology and biotechnology , plasmid , enterococcus , staphylococcus aureus , streptococcaceae , biology , gene , micrococcaceae , antibiotic resistance , bacteria , antibacterial agent , genetics , antibiotics , computer science , programming language
We investigated mercury resistance (Hgr) in 52 clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis from two different geographical regions. Eleven of the 52 strains were resistant to HgCl2, and plasmids from these enterococci hybridized with a staphylococcal mercury resistance gene probe. Hgr from 5 of the 11 transferred at frequencies ranging from approximately 2 X 10(-7) to 2 X 10(-3).