title: Species distribution, antibiotic resistance and virulence traits in enterococci from meat in Tunisia.
abstract: Antimicrobial resistance and the mechanisms implicated were studied in 119 enterococci from 105 meat samples from Tunisian markets. Almost 24.5% of recovered enterococci showed resistance against four or more antimicrobial agents and these isolates were identified to the species level. Enterococcus faecalis was the most prevalent species (41%). High percentages of erythromycin and tetracycline resistances were found among our isolates, and lower percentages were identified to aminoglycosides, ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol. All tetracycline-resistant isolates carried the tet(M) and/or tet(L) genes. The erm(B) gene was detected in 78.5% of erythromycin-resistant isolates, ant(6)-Ia gene in 58.8% of streptomycin-resistant isolates, and cat(A) gene in one chloramphenicol-resistant isolate. Forty-eight isolates carried the gelE gene and exhibited gelatinase activity. The hyl and esp genes were detected in one and three Enterococcus faecium isolates, respectively. Streptomycin-resistant isolates showed a high genetic diversity by PFGE and MLST. Meat might play a role in the spread through the food chain of enterococci with these virulence and resistance characteristics to humans.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Biomolécules actives, Département de Biologie, Faculté de Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, 2092 Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Naouel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Klibi
authors.forename: Leila Ben
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Said
authors.forename: Ahlem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jouini
authors.forename: Karim Ben
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Slama
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Rym Ben
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Sallem
authors.forename: Abdellatif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boudabous
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002417:Cattle; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D011200:Poultry; D012756:Sheep; D013045:Species Specificity; D014416:Tunisia; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D037521:Virulence Factors