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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2009, p. 896-901, Vol. 47, No. 4
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02283-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Distribution of Genes Encoding MSCRAMMs and Pili in Clinical and Natural Populations of Enterococcus faecium{triangledown}

Jouko Sillanpää,1,2,{dagger} Vittal P. Prakash,1,2,{dagger},{ddagger} Sreedhar R. Nallapareddy,1,2,{dagger} and Barbara E. Murray1,2,3*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine,1 Center for the Study of Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens,2 Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas 770303

Received 28 November 2008/ Returned for modification 16 January 2009/ Accepted 27 January 2009

Enterococcus faecium has recently emerged as an important cause of nosocomial infections. We previously identified 15 predicted surface proteins with characteristics of MSCRAMMs and/or pili and demonstrated that their genes were frequently present in 30 clinical E. faecium isolates studied; one of these, acm, has been studied in further detail. To determine the prevalence of the other 14 genes among various E. faecium populations, we have now assessed 433 E. faecium isolates, including 264 isolates from human clinical infections, 69 isolates from stools of hospitalized patients, 70 isolates from stools of community volunteers, and 30 isolates from animal-related sources. A variable distribution of the 14 genes was detected, with their presence ranging from 51% to 98% of isolates. While 81% of clinical isolates carried 13 or 14 of the 14 genes tested, none of the community group isolates and only 13% of animal isolates carried 13 or 14 genes. The presence of these genes was most frequent in endocarditis isolates, with 11 genes present in all isolates, followed by isolates from other clinical sources. The number of genes significantly associated with clinical versus fecal or animal origin (P = 0.04 to <0.0001) varied from 10 to 13, depending on whether comparisons were made against individual clinical subgroups (endocarditis, blood, and other clinical isolates) or against all clinical isolates combined as one group. The strong association of these genes with clinical isolates raises the possibility that their preservation/acquisition has favored the adaptation of E. faecium to nosocomial environments and/or patients.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, MSB 2.112, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 500-6745. Fax: (713) 500-6766. E-mail: bem.asst{at}uth.tmc.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 4 February 2009.

{dagger} J.S., V.P.P., and S.R.N. contributed equally to this study.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2009, p. 896-901, Vol. 47, No. 4
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02283-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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