Distribution of antimicrobial resistance determinants, virulence-associated factors and clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats loci in isolates of Enterococcus faecalis from various settings and genetic lineages. Issue 2 (1st March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gawryszewska, Iwona; Malinowska, Katarzyna; Kuch, Alicja; Chrobak-Chmiel, Dorota; Trokenheim, Łucja Łaniewska-; Hryniewicz, Waleria; Sadowy, Ewa
• Is Part Of: Pathogens and disease. Volume 75:Issue 2(2017:Mar.)
• Publication Date: 2017-03-01
• Subjects: Enterococcus faecalis -- resistance -- virulence -- BAPS -- CRISPR -- high-risk clones; Medical microbiology -- Periodicals; Pathogenic microorganisms -- Periodicals; Communicable diseases -- Microbiology -- Periodicals; Communicable diseases -- Pathogenesis -- Periodicals; Host-parasite relationships -- Periodicals; Systems biology -- Periodicals; 616.904105
• DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftx021
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2049-632X

Abstract

Abstract: Enterococcus faecalis represents an important factor of hospital-associated infections (HAIs). The knowledge on its evolution from a commensal to an opportunistic pathogen is still limited; thus, we performed a study to characterise distribution of factors that may contribute to this adaptation. Using a collection obtained from various settings (hospitalised patients, community carriers, animals, fresh food, sewage, water), we investigated differences in antimicrobial susceptibility, distribution of antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence-associated determinants and phenotypes, and CRISPR loci in the context of the clonal relatedness of isolates. Bayesian Analysis of Population Structure revealed the presence of three major groups; two subgroups comprised almost exclusively HAI isolates, belonging to previously proposed enterococcal high-risk clonal complexes (HiRECCs) 6 and 28. Isolates of these two subgroups were significantly enriched in antimicrobial resistance genes, presumably produced a polysaccharide capsule and often carried the aggregation substance asa1 ; distribution of other virulence-associated genes, such as esp and cyl, formation of a biofilm and gelatinase production were more variable. Moreover, both subgroups showed a low prevalence of CRISPR-Cas 1 and 3 and presence of small CRISPR2 variants. Our study confirms the importance of HiRECCs in the population of E. faecalis and their confinement to the hospital settings. Abstract : High-risk clonal complexes of Enterococcus faecalis are limited to the hospital settings and play an important role in the burden of hospital infections caused by these bacteria.