The first vanE-type vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolates in Norway - phenotypic and molecular characteristics.

Objectives: We aimed to characterize the vanE cluster and its genetic support in the first Norwegian vanE-type isolates and assess genetic relatedness to other vanE isolates.

Methods: Two vanE-type vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis (vanE-VREfs) isolates (E1 and E2) recovered from the same patient 30 months apart were examined for antimicrobial susceptibility, genome sequence, vancomycin resistance induction, vanE transferability, genome mutation rate, and phylogenetic relationship to E. faecalis closed genomes and two vanE-VREfs from North America.

The population structure of vancomycin-resistant and -susceptible in a low-prevalence antimicrobial resistance setting is highly influenced by circulating global hospital-associated clones.

Between 2010 and 2015 the incidence of vancomycin-resistant (VRE) in Norway increased dramatically. Hence, we selected (1) a random subset of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) from the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases (2010-15; =239) and (2) Norwegian vancomycin-susceptible (VSE) bacteraemia isolates from the national surveillance system for antimicrobial resistance in microbes (2008 and 2014; =261) for further analysis. Whole-genome sequences were collected for population structure, gene cluster, mobile genetic element and virulome analysis, as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Adaptive cell wall thickening in Enterococcus faecalis is associated with decreased vancomycin susceptibility.

Objectives: Enterococcus faecalis can adopt both a commensal and a nosocomial lifestyle, resisting numerous antibiotics. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between the cell wall (CW) thickness and decreased susceptibility to vancomycin (VD) in van-gene negative clinical isolates of E. faecalis (n = 2, n = 3, ST30, ST40, and ST59).

Novel genomic islands and a new vanD-subtype in the first sporadic VanD-type vancomycin resistant enterococci in Norway.

Background: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) represent several types of transferable vancomycin resistance gene clusters. The vanD type, associated with moderate to high level vancomycin resistance, has only sporadically been described in clinical isolates. The aim of this study was to perform a genetic characterization of the first VanD-type VRE strains detected in Norway.