Nonclinical and clinical Enterococcus faecium strains, but not Enterococcus faecalis strains, have distinct structural and functional genomic features.

ABSTRACT: Certain strains of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis contribute beneficially to animal health and food production, while others are associated with nosocomial infections. To determine whether there are structural and functional genomic features that are distinct between nonclinical (NC) and clinical (CL) strains of those species, we analyzed the genomes of 31 E. faecium and 38 E. faecalis strains. Hierarchical clustering of 7,017 orthologs found in the E. faecium pangenome revealed that NC strains clustered into two clades and are distinct from CL strains. NC E. faecium genomes are significantly smaller than CL genomes, and this difference was partly explained by significantly fewer mobile genetic elements (ME), virulence factors (VF), and antibiotic resistance (AR) genes. E.

SUBMITTER: Kim EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3911007 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature