Genotyping of Vancomycin Resistance and Investigation of Virulence Traits in Foodborne Enterococci

Abstract

The study was performed to determine the presence of vancomycin phenotyping genes and some virulence traits in enterococci species. For this purpose, a total of 42 enterococci including 6\xa0 vancomycin-resistant and 36 vancomycin-susceptible strains originated from meat/meat products and milk/dairy products were assessed for the van A, van B and van C phenoyping genes and agg , esp , gel E, ace and efa A virulence trait genes by using polymerase chain reaction or multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The van A type gene was found in 12% (n=5) of the strains and van C type gene in 50% (n=21). From these, three van A- ( E. faecalis , E. durans , E. casseliflavus ) and two van C-positive ( E. durans ) strains had a minimum inhibitory concentrations of > 256 mg/ml, previously determined with the E-test . The isolates, expressing vancomycin susceptibility and originating from ready-to-eat food, carried van A (n=1) and van C (n=5) genes. On the other hand, the van B gene was not identified among strains. Also any of the strains were not found to harbor virulence traits studied. Our results indicated that resistant or susceptible enterococci strains to antibiotic vancomycin from foods of animal origin can be a possible reservoir of van A type genes potentially transferred between enterococci or to various other bacteria. Furthermore, to develop epidemiological surveillance systems for foodborne antibiotic resistant pathogens as vancomycin-resistant enterococci and their genes responsible for resistance, primarily van A, van B, continues to be an essential issue all around the world. The present work provides data for foodborne enterococci isolates harboring van A type gene from Turkey.