Indication of Transposition of a Mobile DNA Element Containing the vat(D) and erm(B) Genes in Enterococcus faecium

The vat(D) and erm(B) genes encoding streptogramin resistance in Enterococcus faecium transferred together, and a direct physical link between erm(B) and vat(D) was detected. Both the vat(D) and erm(B) probes hybridized to fragments of different sizes in the donor and transconjugants, which indicated a transposition event.