An Attenuated CRISPR-Cas System in Enterococcus faecalis Permits DNA Acquisition.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are critical public health concerns. Among the prime causative factors for the spread of antibiotic resistance is horizontal gene transfer (HGT). A useful model organism for investigating the relationship between HGT and antibiotic resistance is the opportunistic pathogen Enterococcus faecalis, since the species possesses highly conjugative plasmids that readily disseminate antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors in nature. Unlike many commensal E. faecalis strains, the genomes of multidrug-resistant (MDR) E. faecalis clinical isolates are enriched for mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and lack clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associ

SUBMITTER: Hullahalli K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5930301 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature