Intraspecies genomic groups in Enterococcus faecium and their correlation with origin and pathogenicity.
Seventy-eight Enterococcus faecium strains from various sources were characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of SmaI restriction patterns. Two main genomic groups (I and II) were obtained in both RAPD-PCR and AFLP analyses. DNA-DNA hybridization values between representative strains of both groups demonstrated a mean DNA-DNA reassociation level of 71%. PFGE analysis revealed high genetic strain diversity within the two genomic groups. Only group I contained strains originating from human clinical samples or strains that were vancomycin-resistant or beta-hemolytic. No differentiating phenotypic features between groups I and II were found using the rapid ID 32 STREP system. The two groups could be further subdivided into, respectively, four and three subclusters in both RAPD-PCR and AFLP analyses, and a high correlation was seen between the subclusters generated by these two methods. Subclusters of group I were to some extent correlated with origin, pathogenicity, and bacteriocinogeny of the strains. Host specificity of E. faecium strains was not confirmed.
Vancanneyt
Marc
M
BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, University of Ghent, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Marc.Vancanneyt@rug.ac.be
Lombardi
Angiolella
A
Andrighetto
Christian
C
Knijff
Edo
E
Torriani
Sandra
S
Björkroth
K Johanna
KJ
Franz
Charles M A P
CM
Foulquié Moreno
María R
MR
Revets
Hilde
H
De Vuyst
Luc
L
Swings
Jean
J
Kersters
Karel
K
Dellaglio
Franco
F
Holzapfel
Wilhelm H
WH
D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000235:genetics; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / Q000235:genetics; D002417:Cattle; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005516:Food Microbiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006461:Hemolysis; D006801:Humans; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001430:Bacteriocins; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases