Origin of the putrescine-producing ability of the coagulase-negative bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis 2015B.

ABSTRACT: A multiplex PCR method, aimed at the detection of genes associated with biogenic amine production, identified the odc gene encoding ornithine decarboxylase in 1 of 15 strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis. The ability of the positive strain, S. epidermidis 2015B, to produce putrescine in vitro was demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In this strain, the odc gene was detected on plasmid DNA, suggesting that the ability to form putrescine is carried by a mobile element, which explains the fact that the trait is strain dependent within the S. epidermidis species. A 6,292-bp nucleotide sequence harboring the putative odc gene was determined. S. epidermidis ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) showed 60 to 65% sequence identity with known ODCs of Gram-positive as well as Gram

SUBMITTER: Coton E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2918964 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature