Multidrug-resistant variants of the opportunistic human pathogen Enterococcus have
recently emerged as leading agents of nosocomial infection. The acquisition of plasmid-
borne resistance genes is a driving force in antibiotic-resistance evolution in enterococci.
The segregation locus of a high-level gentamicin-resistance plasmid, pGENT, in
Enterococcus faecium was identified and dissected. This locus includes overlapping genes
encoding PrgP, a member of the ParA superfamily of segregation proteins, and PrgO, a site …