Investigation of vancomycin resistance and some virulence factors in enterococci strains ısolated from dogs

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of Enteroccoccus faecalisand Enterococcus faeciumstrains isolated from dog, as well as the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of vancomycin resistance and some virulence genes of the isolates. A total of 197 samples were analyzed, including 114 urine, 63 rectal swab and 20 vaginal swab samples. Enteroccocusspp. were isolated from 83 (42.1%) of the samples. By PCR test with species-specific primers, 42 (50.6%) isolates were identified as E. faecalis(95.2%) and E. faecium(4.8%). The highest resistance was found to erythromycin (16.66%)and tetracycline (11.9%) whereas vancomycin resistance was low (4.76%) by disc diffusion method. GelE(47.6%) and asa1(38.1%) genes associated with the virulence were detected in the isolates, while all isolates were negative for cylA gene. As a result, E. faecalisfrom canine samples was isolated at higher rate than that of E. faecium, and the resistance of the isolates to β-lactam antibiotics (ampicillin, penicillin, imipenem, and vancomycin) as well as multiple antibiotic resistance was low. The gelEgene was detected in more isolates than the asa1gene, and all isolates were negative for cylAgene.