Novel vancomycin resistance gene cluster in Enterococcus faecium ST1486, Belgium, June 2021

Abstract: We identified a novel van gene cluster in a clinical Enterococcus faecium isolate with vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 4 pg/ mL. The ligase gene, vanP, was part of a van operon cluster of 4,589 bp on a putative novel integrative conjugative element located in a ca 98 kb genomic region presumed to be acquired by horizontal gene transfer from Clostridiumscidens and Roseburia sp. 499. Screening for van genes in E. faecium strains with borderline susceptibility to vancomycin is important.