Multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection of enterococcal genes vanA and vanB and staphylococcal genes mecA, ileS-2 and femB Authors Elena Ramos-Trujillo Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Unidad de Investigació n, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Eduardo Pérez-Roth Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Unidad de Investigació n, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Sebastián Méndez-Álvarez Departamento de Biología Celular y Microbiología, Universidad de la Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Félix Claverie-Martí Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Unidad de Investigació n, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic resistance, glycopeptides, vancomycin-resistant S. aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus Abstract The experimental transfer of the vanA gene cluster from Enterococcus faecalis to Staphylococcus aureus has raised fears about the occurrence of such genetic transfer in clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant staphylococci. Recently, infections by a S. aureus strain carrying the enterococcal vancomycin resistance vanA gene cluster were reported. The possible emergence and dissemination of these strains is a serious health threat and makes optimization of prevention strategies and fast detection methods absolutely necessary. In the present study, we developed a PCR protocol for simultaneous detection of enterococcal vanA and vanB genes, the staphylococcal methicillin and mupirocin resistance markers mecA and ileS-2, and identification of S. aureus. As no vancomycin-resistant S. aureus isolates were available for our study, we used mixtures of enterococcal and staphylococcal colonies that harbored the different resistance markers to show that these genes could be detected simultaneously. This protocol could be used to facilitate the detection and identification of predictable S. aureus or methicillin-resistant strains carrying vanA or vanB. Downloads PDF Published 2010-03-08 Issue Vol. 6 No. 2 (2003) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
