Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the phenotype, genotype and relationships of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcib (VRE) strains isolated from Minjiang River of Fujian province, residence district pond, university fish farm, cesspool and sewer. PCR was used to confirm Enterococci and amplify antibiotic resistance genes. Relationships between different strains were determined by repetitive extragenic palindromic elements-PCR (REP-PCR). A total of 17 VRE strains were isolated from water environment, among which 9 strains were isolated from cesspool, 6 strains were isolated from sewer and 2 strains were isolated from university fish farm. VRE was not isolated from Minjiang River or residence district pond. Analysis on the antibiotic resistance gene showed that 3 strains belong to genotype VanB, 9 strains belong to VanC1 and 5 strains belong to genotype VanC2/3. Genotype VanA was not detected. REP-PCR analysis showed that 17 strains were divided into type A1 (n=6), type A2 (n=1), type A3 (n=2), type B (n=3), type C (n=1), type D (n=3) and type E (n=1). These results demonstrated that the antibiotic resistant phenotype was consistent with the genotype of 17 VRE strains. VRE strains isolated from water sources were resistant to multiple antibiotics. The majority of the strains isolated in this study shared high similarity.

Key words: Enterococci, antibiotic resistance, vancomycin, repetitive extragenic palindromic elements-PCR