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Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and molecular characterization of tetracycline resistance mediated by tet(M) and tet(L) genes in Enterococcus spp. isolated from food in Southern Brazil

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Abstract

Enterococcus spp. are opportunistic pathogens that are widely distributed in the natural environment. Two remarkable characteristics of enterococci is their intrinsic resistance against several of the antimicrobial agents routinely prescribed in the treatment of Gram-positive cocci, and their enormous capacity to acquire different genetic markers by conjugation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and the frequency of tet(M) and tet(L) genes in 112 Enterococcus spp. strains isolated from food. Fifty-two strains (64%) of Enterococcus faecalis, 10 (55%) of Enterococcus faecium, 2 (66%) of Enterococcus casseliflavus and 3 (42%) of Enterococcus gallinarum showed multidrug resistance. Tet(M) gene associated with or without the tet(L) gene was the most prevalent genotype found in food. Nine erythromycin-resistant and tetracycline-susceptible enterococci strains harbor silencing tet(M) or tet(L) genes were present in our investigation. In conclusion, antibiotic-resistant enterococci current in food may act as a reservoir of resistant strains creating a potential route of genes transference by horizontal gene transfer.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico of the Brazil Government (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) of the Brazil Government and Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS). J.F. (CNPq, 306397/2006-4) is research awardees from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development of Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Ana Paula Guedes Frazzon, Rebeca Inhoque Pereira & Arthur Gomes Guedes

  2. Center of Biotechnology, UFRGS, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Building 43431, Lab. 212, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil

    Bianca Almeida Gama, Christine Garcia Bierhals & Jeverson Frazzon

  3. Federal University of Medical Science of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Vanessa Hermes & Pedro Alves d’Azevedo

  4. Department of Food Science, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Jeverson Frazzon

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  1. Ana Paula Guedes Frazzon
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  2. Bianca Almeida Gama
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  3. Vanessa Hermes
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  4. Christine Garcia Bierhals
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  6. Arthur Gomes Guedes
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  7. Pedro Alves d’Azevedo
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  8. Jeverson Frazzon
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Correspondence to Jeverson Frazzon.

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Frazzon, A.P.G., Gama, B.A., Hermes, V. et al. Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and molecular characterization of tetracycline resistance mediated by tet(M) and tet(L) genes in Enterococcus spp. isolated from food in Southern Brazil. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 26, 365–370 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-009-0160-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-009-0160-x

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