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A total of 98 faecal samples from captive specimens of Iberian lynx were collected and analysed for enterococci (96 isolates) and Escherichia coli (90 isolates) recovery. These 186 isolates were tested for antimicrobial resistance, molecular mechanisms of resistance, and detection of virulence genes. Among the enterococci, Enterococcus hirae was the most prevalent species (35 isolates), followed by Enterococcus faecalis (30 isolates), Enterococcus faecium (27 isolates), and Enterococcus durans (4 isolates). High rates of resistance to tetracycline, erythromycin and high-level-kanamycin were detected among enterococcal isolates (41%, 26%, and 19%, respectively). The tet (M) and/or tet (L), erm (B), aac (6 ′ )-Ie- aph (2 ″ )-Ia, ant (6)-Ia, or aph (3 ′ )-IIIa genes were detected among resistant enterococci. Likewise, high rates of resistance were detected in E. coli isolates to tetracycline, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SXT), nalidixic acid, ampicillin, and ciprofloxacin (34%, 28%, 26%, 21%, 17%, and 16%, respectively). Furthermore, the bla TEM or bla SHV , tet (A) and/or tet (B), aadA or strA - strB , aac (3)-II and/or aac (3)-IV, and different combinations of sul genes were detected among most resistant isolates. Fifteen isolates contained class 1 and/or class 2 integrons and 3 different gene cassette arrays were identified ( aadA1 , dfrA1 + aadA1 , and estX + psp + aadA2 ). The E. coli isolates were ascribed to phylo-groups A (12%); B1 (40%); B2 (37%), and D (11%), being fimA the most prevalent virulence gene (n=84), followed by aer (n=13), cnf1 (n=13), papC (n=10) and papG -allele III (n=9). This study showed specimens of Iberian lynx acting as reservoirs of resistance genes, and in future (re)introductions they could spread resistant bacteria throughout the environment.

The increase of VRE, therefore, represents an urgent threat for patient care and creates a reservoir of mobile resistance genes for other, more virulent pathogens. The existence of VRE in different ecologic niches complicates the understanding of its epidemiology. The aim of the present study was to study the proteome of 2 vanA strains recovered from seagull faecal samples. The vanA E. durans and vanA E. faecium isolates presented different genomic patterns: tet(M)-tet(L)-erm(B) and tet(M)-tet(L)-erm(B)-hyl, respectively. A total of 123 spots were excised from two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) gel of vanA E. durans SG 2 strain, and 16 were successfully identified by using MS, representing 42 different proteins. For the vanA E. faecium SG 50 strain, 93 spots were excised from the 2-DE gel and 23 were identified, representing 47 different proteins. The vancomycin/teicoplanin A-type resistance protein vanA in vanA E. durans SG 2 strain was present in two different spots. The identified proteins have shown diverse functional activities including glycolysis, conjugation, translation, protein biosynthesis, among others. This work reports the impact of proteomics on knowledge of vanA enterococci strains and will be helpful to further understand the antibiotic-resistant mechanism.

Lusitano horses were investigated in order to detect the presence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. vanA isolates showed high level vancomycin (Minimum inhibitory concentration; MIC 128 mg/l) and teicoplanin resistance (MIC 64 mg/l), as well as resistance to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and tetracycline. The tet(L) and erm(B) genes, associated with tetracycline and erythromycin resistance, respectively, were found in all vanA isolates.The intestinal tract of Lusitano horses can be a potential reservoir for vanA-containing enterococci. © 2009 EVJ Ltd.

ESBL-producing E. coli isolates have been isolated from eight of seventy seven faecal samples (10.4%) of wild boars in Portugal. The ESBL types identified by PCR and sequencing were blaCTX-M-1 (6 isolates) and blaCTX-M-1 + blaTEM1-b (2 isolates). Further resistance genes detected included tet(A) or tet(B) (in three tetracycline-resistant isolates), aadA (in three streptomycin- resistant isolates), cmlA (in one chloramphenicol-resistant isolate), sul1 and/or sul2 and/or sul3 (in all sulfonamide-resistant isolates). The intI1 gene encoding class 1 integrase was detected in all ESBL-producing E. coli isolates. One isolate also carried the intI2 gene, encoding class 2 integrase. The ESBL-producing E. coli isolates could be assigned to phylogenetic groups B1 (3 isolates), B2 (3 isolates) or A (2 isolates). Amino acid change in GyrA protein (Ser83Leu or Asp87Tyr) was detected in three nalidixic acid-resistant and ciprofloxacin-susceptible isolates. Two amino acid changes in GyrA (Ser83Leu + Asp87Asn) and one in ParC (Ser80Ile) were identified in two nalidixic acid- and ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates. As evidenced by this study wild boars could be a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Introduction: Ulvan, extracted from the green algae Ulva lactuca displays physico-chemical and biological features of potential interest for biomedical applications1. This sulfated polysaccharide is mainly built on disaccharides repeating sequences composed of sulphated rhamnose and glucuronic acid, iduronic acid or xylose2. In this work, structural, chemical degradation and rheological studies were performed in order to complement in vitro and in vivo performance studies and to screen its potential biomedical interest.