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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2008, p. 2686-2691, Vol. 46, No. 8
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00343-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of Small-Colony Variants of Enterococcus faecalis Isolated from Chickens with Amyloid Arthropathy{triangledown}

Andreas Petersen,* Mark S. Chadfield, Jens P. Christensen, Henrik Christensen, and Magne Bisgaard

University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Stigbøjlen 4, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark

Received 19 February 2008/ Returned for modification 14 April 2008/ Accepted 19 June 2008

In this study we report the isolation and characterization of normal-sized and small-colony variants of Enterococcus faecalis from outbreaks of amyloid arthropathy in chickens. Postmortem examinations of 59 chickens revealed orange deposits in the knee joints, typical for amyloid arthropathy. Bacterial cultures from 102 joints and 43 spleens exhibited pure (n = 88) and mixed (n = 11) cultures of normal (n = 60) and pinpoint (n = 28) colonies of E. faecalis. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of 62 isolates demonstrated seven different band patterns with at most two band size variations, and multilocus sequence typing demonstrated two different sequence types, sharing six out of seven alleles, suggesting a close evolutionary relationship between isolates obtained from four outbreaks. In addition, all isolates were clonally related to an amyloid arthropathy reference strain from The Netherlands, previously shown to be globally dispersed. Initial investigation of the isolated small-colony variant phenotype revealed no difference in whole-cell protein profiling between normal and pinpoint colonies. However, the pinpoint colony isolates appeared to be more virulent in an in vivo challenge model in chickens than their normal-sized-colony counterparts. In addition, pinpoint morphology and associated slow growth were expressed without reversion after in vitro and in vivo passage, suggesting a genuine altered phenotype, and in some instances normal colonies converted to pinpoint morphology postinfection. In conclusion, small-colony variants of E. faecalis are described for the first time from veterinary clinical sources and in relation to amyloid arthropathy in chickens.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Stigbøjlen 4, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Phone: 45 35333686. Fax: 45 35332757. E-mail: andp{at}life.ku.dk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 25 June 2008.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2008, p. 2686-2691, Vol. 46, No. 8
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00343-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Wellinghausen, N., Chatterjee, I., Berger, A., Niederfuehr, A., Proctor, R. A., Kahl, B. C. (2009). Characterization of Clinical Enterococcus faecalis Small-Colony Variants. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 2802-2811 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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