Presence of virulence factors in Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium susceptible and resistant to vancomycin

Authors:
  • PDPedro Alves D'AZevedo
    Pedro Alves D'AZevedo
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Abstract
Recent studies have associated enterococcal virulence with different factors, such as gelatinase production, Enterococcus surface protein (Esp), aggregation substance (AS) and biofilm formation (Chuang et al. 2009). Gelatinase is a zinc metalloprotease, encoded by gelE, with hydrolytic capacity (Lindenstrau et al. 2011). AS, encoded by a plasmid gene, mediates binding to the host epithelium and it appears to mediate bacterial aggregation during conjugation, facilitating plasmid exchange (Schlievert et al. 2010). The Esp protein, encoded by the esp gene, seems to contribute to the colonisation and persistence of E. faecalis strains in ascending infections of the urinary tract. In addition, Esp may mediate the interaction with primary surfaces and participate in biofilm formation (Chuang-Smith et al. 2010), which substantially enhances bacterial survival in biopolymers and may also be involved in antimicrobial resistance (Ballering et al. 2009).

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