The purpose of this study was to characterize the antibiotic resistance profiles of Enterococcus species isolated from fresh produce harvested in the southwestern United States. Among the 185 Enterococcus isolates obtained, 97 (52%) were Enterococcus faecium, 38 (21%) were Enterococcus faecalis, and 50 (27%) were other Enterococcus species. Of human clinical importance, E. faecium strains had a...

Emerging drug resistance of the enterococci necessitates differentiation from group D streptococci and accurate species identification. MicroScan (Baxter Healthcare Corp., West Sacramento, Calif.) has recently developed a microdilution system for identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of gram-positive cocci. To evaluate the ability of this system to identify Enterococcus species, ...

Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium infections are increasingly difficult to treat due to high levels of resistance to antibiotics. PlyV12, a bacteriophage lytic enzyme, was isolated and shown to effectively kill both E. faecalis and E. faecium (including vancomycin-resistant strains), as well as other human pathogens. We propose its development and use as an alternative therapeutic ...

Enterococcus faecalis is recognized as one of the leading pathogens causing nosocomial infections. Here we report a draft genome sequence of Enterococcus faecalis SK460, isolated from a chronic diabetic foot ulcer patient. This strain exhibits various biofilm-associated genes, virulence genes, and antibiotic-resistance genes related to aminoglycoside, macrolide, and tetracycline resistance.

In Enterococcus faecium 228, vancomycin resistance is encoded on a 55-kilobase conjugative plasmid, pHKK100. This plasmid was transferred with high frequency into susceptible strains of Enterococcus faecalis and conferred responses to pheromones produced by E. faecalis and Streptococcus sanguis. pHKK100 is the first plasmid described that mediates both vancomycin resistance and pheromone response.

Three different methodologies, reduction of litmus milk (LM) and acidification of arabinose (ARA), acidification of methyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside (MGP), and rapid motility (RM), for differentiating isolates of Enterococcus casseliflavus and Enterococcus gallinarum (intrinsically vancomycin-resistant enterococci [IVRE]) from Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium were evaluated. All 33 ...

AIMS The species identification and antimicrobial resistance profiles were determined for enterococci isolated from Southern California surface and ocean waters. METHODS AND RESULTS Species identification was determined for 1413 presumptive Enterococcus isolates from urban runoff, bay, ocean and sewage water samples. The most frequently isolated species were Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcu...

Differential decreases over time of two bacterial species, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, in a freshwater and a marine ecosystem were observed and explained by a differential rate of digestion of these bacteria by phagotrophic flagellates and ciliates. For this purpose, fluorescence-labeled bacteria (FLB) were used and prepared from the two species cited above. The number of FLB wa...

Recent reports have shown the immunomodulatory effect of heat-killed lactic acid bacteria. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic skin disease, caused by immune dysregulation among other factors. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of heat-killed Enterococcus faecalis EF-2001 (EF-2001) on AD. We established an in vivo AD model by repeated local exposure of Dermatophagoides farinae ext...

Enterococcus faecalis S-48 produces a peptide antibiotic, AS-48, and a bacteriocin, Bc-48. We have isolated mutants that lack these inhibitory characteristics. Further analysis of the mutants indicates that a plasmid of 56 kilobases (pMB2) may harbor the genes for AS-48. In conjugation experiments, pMB2 has been transferred into a plasmid-free OG1X strain of E. faecalis. The OG1X(pMB2) transcon...