Spread of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii carrying a plasmid with two genes encoding OXA-72 carbapenemase in Lithuanian hospitals.

Objectives: To study the molecular epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from Lithuanian hospitals with an emphasis on the characterization of plasmids and antibiotic-resistance genes and their relationship with European clones (ECs) I and II.

Methods: PFGE, PCR analysis of ECs and resistance genes, plasmid replicon typing, DNA transformation and sequencing were employed to characterize A. baumannii.

Antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis from diseased farm animals: pigs, cattle and poultry.

Eighty enterococcal isolates (E. faecium, n = 38, E. faecalis, n = 42) from diseased farm animals (swine, cattle, poultry) in Lithuania have been studied for the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and for resistance and virulence genetic determinants.

Novel variants of AbaR resistance islands with a common backbone in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates of European clone II.

In this study, the genetic organization of three novel genomic antibiotic resistance islands (AbaRs) in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates belonging to group of European clone II (EC II) comM integrated sequences of 18-, 21-, and 23-kb resistance islands were determined. These resistance islands carry the backbone of AbaR-type transposon structures, which are composed of the transposition module coding for potential transposition proteins and other genes coding for the intact universal stress protein (uspA), sulfate permease (sul), and proteins of unknown function. The antibiotic resistance genes strA, strB, tetB, and tetR and insertion sequence CR2 element were found to be inserted into the AbaR transposons.

Detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using double duplex real-time PCR and dye Syto 9.

A screening method for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and dye Syto 9 was developed and evaluated. The assay was based on the two duplex reactions run simultaneously. The detection reaction amplified staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) right extremity sequences and S.

Transferable class 1 and 2 integrons in Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica isolates of human and animal origin in Lithuania.

Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (n = 191) and Salmonella enterica (n = 87) isolates of human and animal origin obtained in Lithuania during 2005-2008 were characterized for the presence and diversity of class 1 and 2 integrons. E. coli isolates were obtained from patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) (n = 59) and both healthy and diseased farm animals, including poultry (n = 54), swine (n = 35), and cattle (n = 43).