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Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera

Enterococcus faecium is a lactic acid bacterium that confers beneficial health effects in humans. However, lately, a number of E. faecium strains have been linked to the spread of nosocomial infections in the hospital environment. Therefore, any potential commercial usage of E. faecium isolates shou...

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Autores principales: Zaghloul, Heba A. H., El Halfawy, Nancy M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Microbiology Society 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9836096/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36374179
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000896
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author Zaghloul, Heba A. H.
El Halfawy, Nancy M.
author_facet Zaghloul, Heba A. H.
El Halfawy, Nancy M.
author_sort Zaghloul, Heba A. H.
collection PubMed
description Enterococcus faecium is a lactic acid bacterium that confers beneficial health effects in humans. However, lately, a number of E. faecium strains have been linked to the spread of nosocomial infections in the hospital environment. Therefore, any potential commercial usage of E. faecium isolates should be preceded by an assessment of infection risk. In the current study, the genomes of two novel E. faecium strains Am1 (larval isolate) and Bee9 (adult bee isolate) isolated from the gut of Apis mellifera L. (honeybee) were sequenced to allow evaluation of their safety. In particular, their genomes were screened for antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes. In addition, their potential to spread resistance in the environment was evaluated. The analysis revealed that Am1 and Bee9 possess 2832 and 2844 protein-encoding genes, respectively. In each case, the genome size was 2.7 Mb with a G+C content of 37.9 mol%. Comparative analysis with probiotic, non-pathogenic and pathogenic enterococci revealed that there are variations between the two bee E. faecium isolates and pathogenic genomes. They were, however, closely linked to the probiotic comparison strains. Phenotypically, the Am1 and Bee9 strains were susceptible to most antibiotics tested, but showed intermediate sensitivity towards erythromycin, linezolid and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Notably, no genes associated with antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates (e.g. vancomycin resistance: vanA, vanB, vanS, vanX and vanY) were present. In addition, the insertion sequences (IS16, ISEfa11 and ISEfa5), acting as molecular pathogenicity markers in clinically relevant E. faecium strains, were also absent. Moreover, the analysis revealed the absence of three key pathogenicity-associated genes (acm, sgrA, ecbA) in the Am1 and Bee9 strains that are found in the prominent clinical isolates DO, V1836, Aus0004 and Aus0085. Overall, the findings of this investigation suggest that the E. faecium isolates from the bee gut have not suffered any recent clinically relevant antibiotic exposure. It also suggests that E. faecium Am1 and Bee9 are safe potential probiotic strains, because they lack the phenotypic and genetic features associated with strains eliciting nosocomial infections.
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spelling pubmed-98360962023-01-13 Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera Zaghloul, Heba A. H. El Halfawy, Nancy M. Microb Genom Research Articles Enterococcus faecium is a lactic acid bacterium that confers beneficial health effects in humans. However, lately, a number of E. faecium strains have been linked to the spread of nosocomial infections in the hospital environment. Therefore, any potential commercial usage of E. faecium isolates should be preceded by an assessment of infection risk. In the current study, the genomes of two novel E. faecium strains Am1 (larval isolate) and Bee9 (adult bee isolate) isolated from the gut of Apis mellifera L. (honeybee) were sequenced to allow evaluation of their safety. In particular, their genomes were screened for antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes. In addition, their potential to spread resistance in the environment was evaluated. The analysis revealed that Am1 and Bee9 possess 2832 and 2844 protein-encoding genes, respectively. In each case, the genome size was 2.7 Mb with a G+C content of 37.9 mol%. Comparative analysis with probiotic, non-pathogenic and pathogenic enterococci revealed that there are variations between the two bee E. faecium isolates and pathogenic genomes. They were, however, closely linked to the probiotic comparison strains. Phenotypically, the Am1 and Bee9 strains were susceptible to most antibiotics tested, but showed intermediate sensitivity towards erythromycin, linezolid and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Notably, no genes associated with antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates (e.g. vancomycin resistance: vanA, vanB, vanS, vanX and vanY) were present. In addition, the insertion sequences (IS16, ISEfa11 and ISEfa5), acting as molecular pathogenicity markers in clinically relevant E. faecium strains, were also absent. Moreover, the analysis revealed the absence of three key pathogenicity-associated genes (acm, sgrA, ecbA) in the Am1 and Bee9 strains that are found in the prominent clinical isolates DO, V1836, Aus0004 and Aus0085. Overall, the findings of this investigation suggest that the E. faecium isolates from the bee gut have not suffered any recent clinically relevant antibiotic exposure. It also suggests that E. faecium Am1 and Bee9 are safe potential probiotic strains, because they lack the phenotypic and genetic features associated with strains eliciting nosocomial infections. Microbiology Society 2022-11-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9836096/ /pubmed/36374179 http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000896 Text en © 2022 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Zaghloul, Heba A. H.
El Halfawy, Nancy M.
Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera
title Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera
title_full Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera
title_fullStr Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera
title_full_unstemmed Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera
title_short Genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of Apis mellifera
title_sort genomic insights into antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes of enterococcus faecium strains from the gut of apis mellifera
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9836096/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36374179
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000896
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