title: Phenotypic characteristics and population genetics of Enterococcus faecalis cultured from patients in Tehran during 2000-2001.
abstract: Conventional bacteriology techniques were used to identify enterococci isolates cultured from patients at different hospitals in Tehran during 2000-2001. The identification was confirmed using species-specific PCR targeting the D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase gene. A total of 59 isolates of Enterococcus faecalis were identified. The rates of resistance to different antibiotics were in the following order: penicillin 84%, ciprofloxacin 42%, high-level gentamicin 30%, nitrofurantoin 14%, imipenem 4%, and chloramphenicol 2%. Resistance to ampicillin was found to be rare among the Iranian isolates of E. faecalis. Multi-locus enzyme electrophoresis was then used to analyze the strains. Forty-five electrophoretic types were obtained when 10 enzyme loci were screened. Although the collection of bacterial isolates was limited in time and location, considerable heterogeneity was found. Analysis of strains for linkage disequilibrium demonstrated that the studied population is not clonal, since the index of association was not significantly different from zero (Ia = 0.0296). Enterococcus faecalis isolates recovered from patients in Tehran were genetically diverse and seemed to possess a high potential for genetic recombinations, though none were resistant to vancomycin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Alzahra University, Vanak, Tehran, Iran. feizabad@azzahra.ac.ir
authors.forename: Mohammad Mehdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Feizabadi
authors.forename: Atusa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aliahmadi
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mobasheri
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asgharzadeh
authors.forename: Soroor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asadi
authors.forename: Gelavizh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Etemadi
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003470:Culture Media; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004586:Electrophoresis / Q000379:methods; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004798:Enzymes / Q000032:analysis; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D004798:Enzymes