Evidence for a staphylococcal-like mercury resistance gene in Enterococcus faecalis

Abstract

We investigated mercury resistance (Hgr) in 52 clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis from two different geographical regions. Eleven of the 52 strains were resistant to HgCl2, and plasmids from these enterococci hybridized with a staphylococcal mercury resistance gene probe. Hgr from 5 of the 11 transferred at frequencies ranging from approximately 2 X 10(-7) to 2 X 10(-3).