Open AccessInfluence of isolate origin and presence of various genes on biofilm formation by E nterococcus faecium
Author(s) -
Almohamad Sam,
Somarajan Sudha R.,
Singh Kavindra V.,
Nallapareddy Sreedhar R.,
Murray Barbara E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6968.12418
Subject(s) - biofilm , microbiology and biotechnology , enterococcus faecium , virulence , pilus , biology , operon , enterococcus , gene , feces , bacteria , antibiotics , genetics , escherichia coli
E nterococcus faecium, a major cause of nosocomial infections, is often isolated from conditions where biofilm is considered to be important in the establishment of infections. We investigated biofilm formation among E . faecium isolates from diverse sources and found that the occurrence and amount of biofilm formation were significantly greater in clinical isolates than fecal isolates from community volunteers. We also found that the presence of the emp fm ( E . faeciu m p ilus) operon was associated with the amount of biofilm formation. Furthermore, we analyzed the possible association between the distribution of 16 putative virulence genes and the occurrence of biofilm production. Even though the prevalence of these virulence genes was significantly higher in clinical isolates, we did not observe any correlation with the occurrence of biofilm formation.