Enterococcus gallinarum

Enterococcus gallinarum is a species of Enterococcus. E. gallinarum demonstrates an inherent, low-level resistance to vancomycin. Resistance is due to a chromosomal gene, vanC, which encodes for a terminal D-alanine-D-serine instead of the usual D-alanine-D-alanine in cell wall peptidoglycan precursor proteins. That is a separate mechanism than the vancomycin resistance seen in VRE isolates of e. faecium and e. faecalis which is mediated by vanA or vanB. This species is known to cause clusters of infection, although it considered very rare. It is the only other known enterococcal species besides e. faecium and e. faecalis known to cause outbreaks and spread in hospitals.