Molecular detection of linezolid resistance in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis by use of 5′ nuclease real-time PCR compared to a modified classical approach

A nucleotide transversion from guanine to uracil in the 23S rRNA confers linezolid resistance. We describe a real-time PCR using two Taqman probes that detects a single mutated allele among the genomes of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis. Results were confirmed by a classical approach involving LabChip technology assayed with an Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100.