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Auto Tag: Enterococcus faecium

April 21, 2020  |  

Antibiotic susceptibility of plant-derived lactic acid bacteria conferring health benefits to human.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) confer health benefits to human when administered orally. We have recently isolated several species of LAB strains from plant sources, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and medicinal plants. Since antibiotics used to treat bacterial infection diseases induce the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria in intestinal microflora, it is important to evaluate the susceptibility of LAB strains to antibiotics to ensure the safety and security of processed foods. The aim of the present study is to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics against several plant-derived LAB strains. When aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as streptomycin (SM), kanamycin (KM), and gentamicin (GM), were evaluated using LAB susceptibility test medium (LSM), the MIC was higher than when using Mueller-Hinton (MH) medium. Etest, which is an antibiotic susceptibility assay method consisting of a predefined gradient of antibiotic concentrations on a plastic strip, is used to determine the MIC of antibiotics world-wide. In the present study, we demonstrated that Etest was particularly valuable while testing LAB strains. We also show that the low susceptibility of the plant-derived LAB strains against each antibiotic tested is due to intrinsic resistance and not acquired resistance. This finding is based on the whole-genome sequence information reflecting the horizontal spread of the drug-resistance genes in the LAB strains.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Detection of transferable oxazolidinone resistance determinants in Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium of swine origin in Sichuan Province, China.

The aim of this study was to detect the transferable oxazolidinone resistance determinants (cfr, optrA and poxtA) in E. faecalis and E. faecium of swine origin in Sichuan Province, China.A total of 158 enterococci strains (93 E. faecalis and 65 E. faecium) isolated from 25 large-scale swine farms were screened for the presence of cfr, optrA and poxtA by PCR. The genetic environments of cfr, optrA and poxtA were characterized by whole genome sequencing. Transfer of oxazolidinone resistance determinants was determined by conjugation or electrotransformation experiments.The transferable oxazolidinone resistance determinants, cfr, optrA and poxtA, were detected in zero, six, and one enterococci strains, respectively. The poxtA in one E. faecalis strain was located on a 37,990 bp plasmid, which co-harbored fexB, cat, tet(L) and tet(M), and could be conjugated to E. faecalis JH2-2. One E. faecalis strain harbored two different OptrA variants, including one variant with a single substitution, Q219H, which has not been reported previously. Two optrA-carrying plasmids, pC25-1, with a size of 45,581 bp, and pC54, with a size of 64,500 bp, shared a 40,494 bp identical region that contained genetic context IS1216E-fexA-optrA-erm(A)-IS1216E, which could be electrotransformed into Staphylococcus aureus. Four different chromosomal optrA gene clusters were found in five strains, in which optrA was associated with Tn554 or Tn558 that were inserted into the radC gene.Our study highlights the fact that mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids, IS1216E, Tn554 and Tn558, may facilitate the horizontal transmission of optrA or poxtA.Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Agricultural Origins of a Highly Persistent Lineage of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis in New Zealand.

Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium are human and animal gut commensals. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are important opportunistic pathogens with limited treatment options. Historically, the glycopeptide antibiotics vancomycin and avoparcin selected for the emergence of vancomycin resistance in human and animal isolates, respectively, resulting in global cessation of avoparcin use between 1997 and 2000. To better understand human- and animal-associated VRE strains in the postavoparcin era, we sequenced the genomes of 231 VRE isolates from New Zealand (NZ; 75 human clinical, 156 poultry) cultured between 1998 and 2009. E. faecium lineages and their antibiotic resistance carriage patterns strictly delineated between agricultural and human reservoirs, with bacitracin resistance ubiquitous in poultry but absent in clinical E. faecium strains. In contrast, one E. faecalis lineage (ST108) predominated in both poultry and human isolates in the 3 years following avoparcin discontinuation. Both phylogenetic and antimicrobial susceptibility (i.e., ubiquitous bacitracin resistance in both poultry and clinical ST108 isolates) analyses suggest an agricultural origin for the ST108 lineage. VRE isolate resistomes were carried on multiple, heterogeneous plasmids. In some isolate genomes, bacitracin, erythromycin, and vancomycin resistance elements were colocalized, indicating multiple potentially linked selection mechanisms.IMPORTANCE Historical antimicrobial use in NZ agriculture has driven the evolution of ST108, a VRE lineage carrying a range of clinically relevant antimicrobial resistances. The persistence of this lineage in NZ for over a decade indicates that coselection may be an important stabilizing mechanism for its persistence.Copyright © 2019 Rushton-Green et al.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Diversification and Evolution of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium during Intestinal Domination.

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. This is particularly true in immunocompromised patients, where the damage to the microbiota caused by antibiotics can lead to VRE domination of the intestine, increasing a patient’s risk for bloodstream infection. In previous studies we observed that the intestinal domination by VRE of patients hospitalized to receive allogeneic bone marrow transplantation can persist for weeks, but little is known about subspecies diversification and evolution during prolonged domination. Here we combined a longitudinal analysis of patient data and in vivo experiments to reveal previously unappreciated subspecies dynamics during VRE domination that appeared to be stable from 16S rRNA microbiota analyses. Whole-genome sequencing of isolates obtained from sequential stool samples provided by VRE-dominated patients revealed an unanticipated level of VRE population complexity that evolved over time. In experiments with ampicillin-treated mice colonized with a single CFU, VRE rapidly diversified and expanded into distinct lineages that competed for dominance. Mathematical modeling shows that in vivo evolution follows mostly a parabolic fitness landscape, where each new mutation provides diminishing returns and, in the setting of continuous ampicillin treatment, reveals a fitness advantage for mutations in penicillin-binding protein 5 (pbp5) that increase resistance to ampicillin. Our results reveal the rapid diversification of host-colonizing VRE populations, with implications for epidemiologic tracking of in-hospital VRE transmission and susceptibility to antibiotic treatment.Copyright © 2019 Dubin et al.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Reconstruction of the genomes of drug-resistant pathogens for outbreak investigation through metagenomic sequencing

Culture-independent methods that target genome fragments have shown promise in identifying certain pathogens, but the holy grail of comprehensive pathogen genome detection from microbiologically complex samples for subsequent forensic analyses remains a challenge. In the context of an investigation of a nosocomial outbreak, we used shotgun metagenomic sequencing of a human fecal sample and a neural network algorithm based on tetranucleotide frequency profiling to reconstruct microbial genomes and tested the same approach using rectal swabs from a second patient. The approach rapidly and readily detected the genome of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae in the patient fecal specimen and in the rectal swab sample, achieving a level of strain resolution that was sufficient for confident transmission inference during a highly clonal outbreak. The analysis also detected previously unrecognized colonization of the patient by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, another multidrug-resistant bacterium.IMPORTANCE The study results reported here perfectly demonstrate the power and promise of clinical metagenomics to recover genome sequences of important drug-resistant bacteria and to rapidly provide rich data that inform outbreak investigations and treatment decisions, independently of the need to culture the organisms.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Genomic variation and strain-specific functional adaptation in the human gut microbiome during early life.

The human gut microbiome matures towards the adult composition during the first years of life and is implicated in early immune development. Here, we investigate the effects of microbial genomic diversity on gut microbiome development using integrated early childhood data sets collected in the DIABIMMUNE study in Finland, Estonia and Russian Karelia. We show that gut microbial diversity is associated with household location and linear growth of children. Single nucleotide polymorphism- and metagenomic assembly-based strain tracking revealed large and highly dynamic microbial pangenomes, especially in the genus Bacteroides, in which we identified evidence of variability deriving from Bacteroides-targeting bacteriophages. Our analyses revealed functional consequences of strain diversity; only 10% of Finnish infants harboured Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis, a subspecies specialized in human milk metabolism, whereas Russian infants commonly maintained a probiotic Bifidobacterium bifidum strain in infancy. Groups of bacteria contributing to diverse, characterized metabolic pathways converged to highly subject-specific configurations over the first two years of life. This longitudinal study extends the current view of early gut microbial community assembly based on strain-level genomic variation.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Genomic investigation of Staphylococcus aureus recovered from Gambian women and newborns following an oral dose of intra-partum azithromycin.

Oral azithromycin given during labour reduces carriage of bacteria responsible for neonatal sepsis, including Staphylococcus aureus. However, there is concern that this may promote drug resistance.Here, we combine genomic and epidemiological data on S. aureus isolated from mothers and babies in a randomized intra-partum azithromycin trial (PregnAnZI) to describe bacterial population dynamics and resistance mechanisms.Participants from both arms of the trial, who carried S. aureus in day 3 and day 28 samples post-intervention, were included. Sixty-six S. aureus isolates (from 7 mothers and 10 babies) underwent comparative genome analyses and the data were then combined with epidemiological data. Trial registration (main trial): ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01800942.Seven S. aureus STs were identified, with ST5 dominant (n?=?40, 61.0%), followed by ST15 (n?=?11, 17.0%). ST5 predominated in the placebo arm (73.0% versus 49.0%, P?=?0.039) and ST15 in the azithromycin arm (27.0% versus 6.0%, P?=?0.022). In azithromycin-resistant isolates, msr(A) was the main macrolide resistance gene (n?=?36, 80%). Ten study participants, from both trial arms, acquired azithromycin-resistant S. aureus after initially harbouring a susceptible isolate. In nine (90%) of these cases, the acquired clone was an msr(A)-containing ST5 S. aureus. Long-read sequencing demonstrated that in ST5, msr(A) was found on an MDR plasmid.Our data reveal in this Gambian population the presence of a dominant clone of S. aureus harbouring plasmid-encoded azithromycin resistance, which was acquired by participants in both arms of the study. Understanding these resistance dynamics is crucial to defining the public health drug resistance impacts of azithromycin prophylaxis given during labour in Africa. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

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April 21, 2020  |  

A prophage and two ICESa2603-family integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) carrying optrA in Streptococcus suis.

To investigate the presence and transfer of the oxazolidinone/phenicol resistance gene optrA and identify the genetic elements involved in the horizontal transfer of the optrA gene in Streptococcus suis.A total of 237 S. suis isolates were screened for the presence of the optrA gene by PCR. Whole-genome DNA of three optrA-positive strains was completely sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq and Pacbio RSII platforms. MICs were determined by broth microdilution. Transferability of the optrA gene in S. suis was investigated by conjugation. The presence of circular intermediates was examined by inverse PCR.The optrA gene was present in 11.8% (28/237) of the S. suis strains. In three strains, the optrA gene was flanked by two copies of IS1216 elements in the same orientation, located either on a prophage or on ICESa2603-family integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), including one tandem ICE. In one isolate, the optrA-carrying ICE transferred with a frequency of 2.1?×?10-8. After the transfer, the transconjugant displayed elevated MICs of the respective antimicrobial agents. Inverse PCRs revealed that circular intermediates of different sizes were formed in the three optrA-carrying strains, containing one copy of the IS1216E element and the optrA gene alone or in combination with other resistance genes.A prophage and two ICESa2603-family ICEs (including one tandem ICE) associated with the optrA gene were identified in S. suis. The association of the optrA gene with the IS1216E elements and its location on either a prophage or ICEs will aid its horizontal transfer. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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April 21, 2020  |  

WGS of 1058 Enterococcus faecium from Copenhagen, Denmark, reveals rapid clonal expansion of vancomycin-resistant clone ST80 combined with widespread dissemination of a vanA-containing plasmid and acquisition of a heterogeneous accessory genome.

From 2012 to 2015, a sudden significant increase in vancomycin-resistant (vanA) Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) was observed in the Capital Region of Denmark. Clonal relatedness of VREfm and vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSEfm) was investigated, transmission events between hospitals were identified and the pan-genome and plasmids from the largest VREfm clonal group were characterized.WGS of 1058 E. faecium isolates was carried out on the Illumina platform to perform SNP analysis and to identify the pan-genome. One isolate was also sequenced on the PacBio platform to close the genome. Epidemiological data were collected from laboratory information systems.Phylogeny of 892 VREfm and 166 VSEfm revealed a polyclonal structure, with a single clonal group (ST80) accounting for 40% of the VREfm isolates. VREfm and VSEfm co-occurred within many clonal groups; however, no VSEfm were related to the dominant VREfm group. A similar vanA plasmid was identified in =99% of isolates belonging to the dominant group and 69% of the remaining VREfm. Ten plasmids were identified in the completed genome, and ~29% of this genome consisted of dispensable accessory genes. The size of the pan-genome among isolates in the dominant group was 5905 genes.Most probably, VREfm emerged owing to importation of a successful VREfm clone which rapidly transmitted to the majority of hospitals in the region whilst simultaneously disseminating a vanA plasmid to pre-existing VSEfm. Acquisition of a heterogeneous accessory genome may account for the success of this clone by facilitating adaptation to new environmental challenges. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Characterization of vanM carrying clinical Enterococcus isolates and diversity of the suppressed vanM gene cluster.

Here we report the prevalence of the suppressed vanM gene cluster as a reservoir of vancomycin resistance genes. Among 1284 clinical isolates of enterococci from four hospitals in Hangzhou, China, 55 isolates of Enterococcus faecium and one isolate of Enterococcus faecalis were screened positive for the vanM genotype. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that 55 of the 56 vanM-positive isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Most of them (54/56) belonged to the main epidemic lineage CC17, mostly the ST78 type. The vanM gene clusters in the 55 vancomycin-susceptible isolates showed sequence diversity owing to different insertion locations of IS1216E. The vanM transposons could be classified into five types and they all carried two or more IS1216E elements, leading to complete or partial deletions of vanR, vanS, or vanX. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction showed that the expression level of vanM was significantly lower in the vancomycin-susceptible isolates than in the vancomycin-resistant isolate. Considering the prevalence of the vanM genotype and the potential for conversion to a resistant phenotype, vanM might act as an important determinant of glycopeptide resistance in the future. It is essential to strengthen the surveillance of vanM-containing enterococci to control the dissemination of vancomycin resistance. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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