IS element IS16 as a molecular screening tool to identify hospital-associated strains of Enterococcus faecium.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hospital strains of Enterococcus faecium could be characterized and typed by various molecular methods (MLST, AFLP, MLVA) and allocated to a distinct clonal complex known as MLST CC17. However, these techniques are laborious, time-consuming and cost-intensive. Our aim was to identify hospital E. faecium strains and differentiate them from colonizing and animal variants by a simple, inexpensive and reliable PCR-based screening assay. We describe here performance and predictive value of a single PCR detecting the insertion element, IS16, to identify hospital E. faecium isolates within a collection of 260 strains of hospital, animal and human commensal origins.

Methods

Specific primers were selected amplifying a 547-bp fragment of IS16. Presence of IS16 was determine

SUBMITTER: Werner G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3076258 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature