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JAC Advance Access originally published online on September 26, 2005
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2005 56(5):975-978; doi:10.1093/jac/dki336
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Evidence of vancomycin resistance gene transfer between enterococci of human origin in the gut of mice harbouring human microbiota

Denis D. G. Mater, Philippe Langella, Gérard Corthier and María José Flores*

Unité d'Ecologie et de Physiologie du Système Digestif, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas cedex, France

Received 19 May 2005; returned 25 June 2005; revised 22 August 2005; accepted 24 August 2005

* Corresponding author. Tel: +33-134-652-463; Fax: +33-134-652-462; E-mail: Maria.Flores{at}jouy.inra.fr

Objectives: Potential intra- and inter-species transfers of vancomycin resistance genes (vanA gene cluster) between Enterococcus strains were evaluated in the gut of heteroxenic mice harbouring a human microbiota.

Methods: Mice colonized with a stable population of E. faecium 64/3 or E. faecalis JH2-2 recipient strain and harbouring an enterococci-free human microbiota were obtained. Donor strain E. faecium HC-VI2 of clinical origin was administered orogastrically to these mice and transfers were evaluated over time in faecal samples.

Results: Only intraspecies transfers were detected in the digestive tract (DT) of mice harbouring a human microbiota. E. faecium 64/3 transconjugants were detected at several sampling times over the 60 day experiment to levels up to 103 cfu/g of faeces, but they did not steadily colonize the DT.

Conclusions: Here, we show for the first time that transfer of the vanA gene cluster can occur between Enterococcus strains in the DT colonized with a human microbiota and in the absence of selective pressure. The colonization properties of other enterococci transconjugants and the influence of vancomycin intake should be further investigated since transfers in the DT of animals and humans might contribute to emergence and dissemination of new vancomycin-resistant bacteria.

Keywords: digestive tract , Enterococcus , conjugative transfer , human microbiota , mice , vancomycin resistance


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