Development and use of an efficient system for random mariner transposon mutagenesis to identify novel genetic determinants of biofilm formation in the core Enterococcus faecalis genome.

ABSTRACT: Enterococcus faecalis is a gram-positive commensal bacterium of the gastrointestinal tract and an important opportunistic pathogen. Despite the increasing clinical significance of the enterococci, most of the genetic analysis of these organisms has focused on mobile genetic elements, and existing tools for manipulation and analysis of the core E. faecalis chromosome are limited. We are interested in a comprehensive analysis of the genetic determinants for biofilm formation encoded within the core E. faecalis genome. To identify such determinants, we developed a substantially improved system for transposon mutagenesis in E. faecalis based on a mini-mariner transposable element. Mutagenesis of wild-type E. faecalis with this element yielded predominantly mutants carrying a single copy of the

SUBMITTER: Kristich CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2423031 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature