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Virulence-associated traits have frequently been studied in enterococci and are considered to contribute towards the pathogenicity of infections. In the present study,  Enterococcus  isolates were collected during diagnostic investigations from meat turkeys in Germany. Twenty-eight isolates of three different  Enterococcus  species were analyzed for five selected putative virulence traits to understand their potential role in the pathogenicity using the chicken embryo lethality assay. Ten  E. faecalis , ten  E. faecium , and eight  E. gallinarum  isolates were examined for the presence of common virulence genes and their phenotypic expression, namely, the cytolysin operon, five individual  cyl  genes ( cylL   L  ,  cylL   S  ,  cylM ,  cylB , and  cylA ), gelatinase ( gelE ), hyaluronidase ( hyl   Efm  ), aggregation substance ( asa1 ), and enterococcal surface protein ( esp ). The  Enterococcus  isolates showed significant species-dependent differences in the presence of genotypic traits ( p  < 0.001 by Fisher's exact test; Cramer's  V  = 0.68). At least one gene and up to three virulence traits were found in  E. faecalis , while six  E. faecium  isolates and one  E. gallinarum  isolate did not display any virulence-associated pheno- or genotype. More than half of the  Enterococcus  isolates ( n  = 15) harbored the  gelE  gene, but only  E. faecalis  ( n  = 10) expressed the gelatinase activity  in vitro . The  hyl   Efm   gene was found in five  E. gallinarum  isolates only, while seven isolates showed the hyaluronidase activity in the phenotypic assay. In Cramer's  V  statistic, a moderate association was indicated for species ( V  ≤ 0.35) or genotype ( V  < 0.43) and the results from the embryo lethality assay, but the differences were not significant. All  E. gallinarum  isolates were less virulent with mortality rates ranging between 0 and 30%. Two  E. faecalis  isolates were highly virulent, harboring the whole  cyl -operon as well as  gelE  and  asa1  genes. Likewise, one  E. faecium  isolate caused high embryo mortality but did not harbor any of the investigated virulence genes. For the first time,  Enterococcus  isolates of three different species collected from diseased turkeys were investigated for their virulence properties in comparison. The results differed markedly between the  Enterococcus  species, with  E. faecalis  harboring the majority of investigated genes and virulence traits. However, the genotype did not entirely correlate with the phenotype or the isolates' virulence potential and pathogenicity for chicken embryos.

Presence of Virulence Genes inEnterococcusSpecies Isolated from Meat Turkeys in Germany Does Not Correlate with Chicken Embryo Lethality