| Species/Subspecies: | Enterococcus faecium | ||||||||
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| Category: | In the normal flora | ||||||||
| Etymology: | Genus name: cocci (grains or berries) from the intestine Species epithet: of feces | ||||||||
| Significance: | Have great importance because they often carry antibiotic resistance genes. One of the most significant is van A gene, which confers resistance to vancomycin and since 2001 it is appearing in broilers in Sweden. Vancomycin resistant enterococci are referred to as VRE. [Important] |
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| Taxonomy: | Class Bacilli Order Lactobacillales Family Enterococcaceae Genus Enterococcus |
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| Type Strain: | ATCC 19434 = CCUG 542 = NCTC 7171. | ||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell):
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| Micromorphology: | Nonmotile cocci. | ||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G+ | ||||||||
| Metabolism: | Facultatively anaerobic | ||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | -/? | ||||||||
| Other Enzymes: | Esculinase +, α-galactosidase -, β-galactosidase +, hippuricase v. | ||||||||
| Fermentation of carbohydrates: | D-glucose + lactose + maltose + L-rhamnose v sucrose v L-arabinose + cellobiose + D-mannitol v salicin ? trehalose + glycerol v inulin - raffinose v D-sorbitol v starch - |
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| Spec. Char.: | |||||||||
| Special Media:
| E. faecium can be cultivated on purple agar and ferments lactose under acid production (see Fig. 190:4). SlaBa agar is a selective medium, which is used for surface streaking and enumeration of Enterococcus spp. | ||||||||
| Disease: | Animals: Opportunist, which can cause infections in poultry of low age (e.g., air sac inflammation and arthritis). Man: opportunist causing mainly hospital-related and sometimes serious infections. |
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| Hosts: | Included in the normal intestinal flora of mammals (including humans) and birds. | ||||||||
| Clinical Picture: | |||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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About 50 species have been described within the genus Streptococcus. Many species within the genus Enterococcus have earlier been classified as streptococci and, thus, they are closely related.E. faecium and E. faecalis as well as E. avium are rather closely related. | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-08 |