Comparative analysis of the first complete Enterococcus faecium genome.
J Bacteriol, 2012/5;194(9):2334-41.
Lam MM[1], Seemann T, Bulach DM, Gladman SL, Chen H, Haring V, Moore RJ, Ballard S, Grayson ML, Johnson PD, Howden BP, Stinear TP
Affiliations
PMID: 22366422DOI: 10.1128/JB.00259-12
Impact factor: 3.476
Abstract
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections in health care facilities around the globe. In particular, infections caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium are becoming increasingly common. Comparative and functional genomic studies of E. faecium isolates have so far been limited owing to the lack of a fully assembled E. faecium genome sequence. Here we address this issue and report the complete 3.0-Mb genome sequence of the multilocus sequence type 17 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium strain Aus0004, isolated from the bloodstream of a patient in Melbourne, Australia, in 1998. The genome comprises a 2.9-Mb circular chromosome and three circular plasmids. The chromosome harbors putative E. faecium virulence factors such as enterococcal surface protein, hemolysin, and collagen-binding adhesin. Aus0004 has a very large accessory genome (38%) that includes three prophage and two genomic islands absent among 22 other E. faecium genomes. One of the prophage was present as inverted 50-kb repeats that appear to have facilitated a 683-kb chromosomal inversion across the replication terminus, resulting in a striking replichore imbalance. Other distinctive features include 76 insertion sequence elements and a single chromosomal copy of Tn1549 containing the vanB vancomycin resistance element. A complete E. faecium genome will be a useful resource to assist our understanding of this emerging nosocomial pathogen.
MeSH terms
Chromosomes, Bacterial; Enterococcus faecium; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Genome, Bacterial; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; Plasmids; Prophages; Vancomycin; Vancomycin Resistance; Virulence
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