TY  - JOUR
T1  - Distinguishing Closely-Related Streptogramin-Resistant <I>Enterococcus faecium</I>: SNPs in One Specific 16-23S rRNA Intergenic Region
AU - , Shane C. Burgess AU - , Timmothy S. Cummings AU - , Anneke M.T. Steegh AU - , Larry A. Hanson AU - , Donna C. Sullivan AU - , Rathel L. Nolan 
JO  - Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances
VL  - 5
IS  - 10
SP  - 855
EP  - 862
PY  - 2006
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1680-5593
DO  - javaa.2006.855.862
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2006.855.862
KW  - Sequence analysis
KW  -single nucleotide polymorphism
KW  -antibiotic resistance
AB  - Human infections caused by Enterococcus species are increasing; they are the third most common cause of nosocomial infections. <I>E. faecium, </I>though a relatively rare Enterococcal nosocomial infection, is very commonly resistant to multiple antibiotics. Quinupristin/Dalfopristin, a Streptogramin, is an antibiotic of &quot;last resort&quot; for treating multi-antibiotic-resistant <I>E. faecium</I>. However, <I>E. faecium</I> isolates are now becoming resistant to Quinupristin/Dalfopristin. The source of Streptogramin-resistant <I>E. Faecium</I> is controversial. Although medical environments are a potential source, Streptogramin-resistant Enterocci are present in livestock fed Streptogramin growth-promoters. However, <I>E. faecium</I> subspecies are suggested to be predominantly  host-species  specific  and  thus livestock may not be a reservoir for Streptogramin-resistant <I>E. faecium</I> that infect humans. To resolve this  issue, sensitive methods to quantify Streptogramin-resistant <I>E. faecium</I> relatedness are essential. We designed a rapid sensitive, specific, molecular diagnostic technique, targeting one <I>E. faecium</I> 16S/23S intergenic spacer region to distinguish between <I>E. faecium</I> at the nucleotide level. This region has no obvious evolutionary-conservation pressure and has been used to quantify relatedness in other bacteria. We analyzed streptogramin-resistant <I>E. faecium</I> from chickens from one grower house, on one farm, to quantify nucleotide polymorphism between isolates that would be expected to be closely related. We detected single nucleotide polymorphisms in four out of ten Streptogramin-resistant <I>E. faecium</I> isolated from this single source. The chicken-derived <I>E. faecium</I> sequences were more similar to each other than they were to the reference human <I>E. faecium</I> strain. Our method will be useful for studies of <I>E. faecium</I> ecology, pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance.
ER  -