{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T19:12:43Z","timestamp":1768072363239,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,10]],"date-time":"2022-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644451200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research","award":["Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018 \u2013 2022, CUP_C46C18000530001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018 \u2013 2022, CUP_C46C18000530001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this study was to evaluate the resistance patterns against selected critically and highly important antibiotics (quinupristin\/dalfopristin, vancomycin, and linezolid) in 48 Enterococcus isolates obtained from wild (red deer and Apennine chamois) and domestic (cattle, sheep, and goats) ruminants living with varying degrees of sympatry in the protected area of Maiella National Park (central Italy). According to CLSI breakpoints, 9 out of 48 isolates (18.8%) showed resistance to at least one antibiotic. One Apennine chamois isolate was resistant to all tested antibiotics. The PCR screening of related resistance genes highlighted the occurrence of msrC or cfrD in seven Enterococcus resistant isolates. In addition, msrC and vanC genes were amplified in susceptible isolates. Specific sequences of virulence genes (gelE, ace, efa, asa1, and esp) related to pathogenic enterococci in humans were amplified in 21\/48 isolates (43.75%), belonging mostly to wild animals (15\/21; 71.42%). This is the first report of linezolid-resistant enterococci harboring virulence genes in Italian wildlife with special regard to the red deer and Apennine chamois species. The results allow us to evaluate the potential role of wild animals as indicators of antibiotic resistance in environments with different levels of anthropic pressure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics11020223","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,11]],"date-time":"2022-02-11T02:37:46Z","timestamp":1644547066000},"page":"223","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Evidence of Linezolid Resistance and Virulence Factors in Enterococcus spp. Isolates from Wild and Domestic Ruminants, Italy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6571-9110","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Camilla","family":"Smoglica","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Loc. Piano D\u2019Accio, 64100 Teramo, TE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5593-8029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Vergara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Loc. Piano D\u2019Accio, 64100 Teramo, TE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0152-0433","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simone","family":"Angelucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Loc. Piano D\u2019Accio, 64100 Teramo, TE, Italy"},{"name":"Maiella National Park, Wildlife Research Center, Viale del Vivaio, 65023 Caramanico Terme, PE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna Rita","family":"Festino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Loc. Piano D\u2019Accio, 64100 Teramo, TE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Antonucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Maiella National Park, Wildlife Research Center, Viale del Vivaio, 65023 Caramanico Terme, PE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9552-1199","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fulvio","family":"Marsilio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Loc. Piano D\u2019Accio, 64100 Teramo, TE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0896-4539","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristina Esmeralda","family":"Di Francesco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Loc. Piano D\u2019Accio, 64100 Teramo, TE, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"788","article-title":"Global Emergence and Dissemination of Enterococci as Nosocomial Pathogens: Attack of the Clones?","volume":"7","author":"Prieto","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2182","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkv116","article-title":"A novel gene, optrA, that confers transferable resistance to oxazolidinones and phenicols and its presence in Enterococcus faecalisand Enterococcus faeciumof human and animal origin","volume":"70","author":"Wang","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100198","DOI":"10.1016\/j.onehlt.2020.100198","article-title":"Temporal and geographical research trends of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife\u2014A bibliometric analysis","volume":"11","author":"Torres","year":"2020","journal-title":"One Health"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"670","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lwt.2016.10.026","article-title":"Virulence factors of Enterococcus spp. presented in food","volume":"75","author":"Zadernowska","year":"2017","journal-title":"LWT"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3937","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-61002-5","article-title":"Surveillance of Enterococcus spp. reveals distinct species and antimicrobial resistance diversity across a One-Health continuum","volume":"10","author":"Zaheer","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"817","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dky505","article-title":"Detection in Italy of a porcine Enterococcus faecium isolate carrying the novel phenicol-oxazolidinone-tetracycline resistance gene poxtA","volume":"74","author":"Brenciani","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2865","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkz263","article-title":"Dispersal of linezolid-resistant enterococci carrying poxtA or optrA in retail meat and food-producing animals from Tunisia","volume":"74","author":"Elghaieb","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1359","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkaa054","article-title":"Emergence of plasmid-mediated oxazolidinone resistance gene poxtA from CC17 Enterococcus faecium of pig origin\u2014authors\u2019 response","volume":"75","author":"Huang","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2459","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkz198","article-title":"Detection of the phenicol\u2013oxazolidinone\u2013tetracycline resistance gene poxtA in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis of food-producing animal origin in China","volume":"74","author":"Lei","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Na, S.-H., Moon, D.-C., Kim, M.-H., Kang, H.-Y., Kim, S.-J., Choi, J.-H., Mechesso, A.-F., Yoon, S.-S., and Lim, S.-K. (2020). Detection of the Phenicol\u2013Oxazolidinone Resistance Gene poxtA in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis from Food-Producing Animals during 2008\u20132018 in Korea. Microorganisms, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms8111839"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ruiz-Ripa, L., Fe\u00dfler, A.T., Hanke, D., Eichhorn, I., Azcona-Guti\u00e9rrez, J.M., P\u00e9rez-Moreno, M.O., Seral, C., Aspiroz, C., Alonso, C.A., and Torres, L. (2020). Mechanisms of Linezolid Resistance Among Enterococci of Clinical Origin in Spain\u2014Detection of optrA- and cfr(D)-Carrying E. faecalis. Microorganisms, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms8081155"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Torres, C., Alonso, C.A., Ruiz-Ripa, L., Le\u00f3n-Sampedro, R., Del Campo, R., and Coque, T.M. (2018). Antimicrobial Resistance in Enterococcus spp. of animal origin. Microbiol. Spectr., 6.","DOI":"10.1128\/microbiolspec.ARBA-0032-2018"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.7589\/2019-04-099","article-title":"Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in Wildlife: Perspectives on Trends, Acquisition and Dissemination, Data Gaps, and Future Directions","volume":"56","author":"Ramey","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Wildl. Dis."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"505","DOI":"10.1089\/mdr.2019.0052","article-title":"Antibiotic Susceptibility and Virulence Genes in Enterococcus Isolates from Wild Mammals Living in Tuscany, Italy","volume":"26","author":"Dec","year":"2020","journal-title":"Microb. Drug Resist."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.2754\/avb200473020211","article-title":"Vancomycin Resistance Genes in Enterococcus spp. Strains Isolated from Alpine Accentor and Chamois","volume":"73","author":"Kmet","year":"2004","journal-title":"Acta Vet. Brno"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1007\/s12223-012-0141-6","article-title":"Antibiotic resistance and restriction endonucleases in fecal enterococci of chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra Linnaeus, 1758)","volume":"57","year":"2012","journal-title":"Folia Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"368","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2007.06.003","article-title":"Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of antimicrobial resistance in faecal enterococci from wild boars (Sus scrofa)","volume":"125","author":"Poeta","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"491","DOI":"10.1002\/jobm.200800387","article-title":"Genetic characterization of vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolates from wild rabbits","volume":"49","author":"Figueiredo","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Basic Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"769","DOI":"10.7589\/0090-3558-47.3.769","article-title":"Clonal Lineages, Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Factors in Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Isolated from Fecal Samples of Red Foxes (Vulpes Vulpes)","volume":"47","author":"Radhouani","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Wildl. Dis."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anaerobe.2013.06.013","article-title":"Antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in Escherichia coli and enterococci from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)","volume":"23","author":"Radhouani","year":"2013","journal-title":"Anaerobe"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1111\/lam.12044","article-title":"Antimicrobial resistance in faecal enterococci and Escherichia coli isolates recovered from Iberian wolf","volume":"56","author":"Igrejas","year":"2013","journal-title":"Lett. Appl. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"686","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2013.07.037","article-title":"Food-borne zoonotic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance of indicator bacteria in urban wild boars in Barcelona, Spain","volume":"167","author":"Porrero","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"168","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2015.02.025","article-title":"Detection of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis ST6-vanB2 and E. faecium ST915-vanA in faecal samples of wild Rattus rattus in Spain","volume":"177","author":"Lozano","year":"2015","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fm.2015.09.007","article-title":"Antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in enterococci from wild game meat in Spain","volume":"53","author":"Cordero","year":"2016","journal-title":"Food Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1469","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkz097","article-title":"Emergence of optrA-mediated linezolid resistance in enterococci from France, 2006\u201316","volume":"74","author":"Sassi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"518","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00518","article-title":"Coexistence of the Oxazolidinone Resistance\u2014Associated Genes cfr and optrA in Enterococcus faecalis From a Healthy Piglet in Brazil","volume":"8","author":"Almeida","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1699","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkaa125","article-title":"Molecular and functional analysis of the novel cfr(D) linezolid resistance gene identified in Enterococcus faecium","volume":"75","author":"Guerin","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Antimicrob. Chemother."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105831","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2019.10.012","article-title":"Linezolid-resistant ST872 Enteroccocus faecium harbouring optrA and cfr (D) oxazolidinone resistance genes","volume":"55","author":"Pang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"374","DOI":"10.1093\/femsre\/fux004","article-title":"Environmental and genetic modulation of the phenotypic expression of antibiotic resistance","volume":"41","author":"Hughes","year":"2017","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"936","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2018.05.005","article-title":"Antimicrobial resistance and genetic lineages of faecal enterococci of wild birds: Emergence of vanA and vanB2 harbouring Enterococcus faecalis","volume":"52","author":"Chairat","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135830","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2019.135830","article-title":"A significant number of multi-drug resistant Enterococcus faecalis in wildlife animals; long-term consequences and new or known reservoirs of resistance?","volume":"705","author":"Nowakiewicz","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"838","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1505.081219","article-title":"Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci, Point Barrow, Alaska, USA","volume":"15","author":"Drobni","year":"2009","journal-title":"Emerg. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Wayne, P.A. (2022, February 09). Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute: Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. 30th ed. CLSI Supplement M100. Available online: https:\/\/clsi.org\/media\/3481\/m100ed30_sample.pdf."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mimet.2017.12.013","article-title":"New colony multiplex PCR assays for the detection and discrimination of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal species","volume":"145","author":"Nomura","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Microbiol. Methods"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mimet.2019.03.025","article-title":"Development of a multiplex-PCR to simultaneously detect acquired linezolid resistance genes cfr, optrA and poxtA in enterococci of clinical origin","volume":"160","author":"Bender","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Microbiol. Methods"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1730","DOI":"10.1099\/jmm.0.000637","article-title":"Resistance mechanisms of linezolid-nonsusceptible enterococci in Korea: Low rate of 23S rRNA mutations in Enterococcus faecium","volume":"66","author":"Lee","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"959","DOI":"10.1007\/s10096-018-3214-x","article-title":"The use of high-throughput sequencing to investigate an outbreak of glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium with a novel quinupristin-dalfopristin resistance mechanism","volume":"37","author":"Shaw","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijfoodmicro.2009.03.010","article-title":"Characterization and safety evaluation of enterococci isolated from Spanish goats\u2019 milk cheeses","volume":"132","author":"Valdivia","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Food Microbiol."}],"container-title":["Antibiotics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6382\/11\/2\/223\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T22:17:33Z","timestamp":1760134653000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6382\/11\/2\/223"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,10]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2]]}},"alternative-id":["antibiotics11020223"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/antibiotics11020223","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-6382"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-6382","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,10]]}}}