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Multilocus sequence typing and antimicrobial resistance in Enterococcus faecium isolates from fresh produce

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relatedness of Enterococcus faecium isolates from fresh produce to E. faecium strains from other sources by using multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and to determine the antimicrobial resistance of the isolates. MLST analysis of 22 E. faecium isolates from fresh produce revealed 7 different sequence types (ST 22, ST 26, ST 43, ST 46, ST 55, ST 94 and ST 296). Most isolates belonged to ST 296 (40.9 %), followed by ST 94 (27.3 %). All isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and to imipenem, and only one was resistant to ampicillin (MIC 32 mg/l). However, all were resistant to cefotaxime and ceftazidine. E. faecium isolates from fresh produce were inhibited by quaternary compounds (benzalkonium chloride, cetrimide, hexadecylpyridinium chloride, didecyldimethylammonium bromide), biguanides (chlorhexidine), polyguanides [poly-(hexamethylene guanidinium) hydrochloride], bisphenols (triclosan, hexachlorophene) and biocidal solutions of P3 oxonia and P3 topax 66. Didecyldimethylammonium bromide and triclosan were the least effective biocides in growth inhibition, while hexadecylpyridinium chloride was the most effective. Results from MLST typing and antibiotic resistance suggest that the studied E. faecium isolates from fresh produce are not related to the clinically-relevant clonal complex CC17.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by research project P08-AGR-4295 (Junta de Andalucía CICE, FEDER) and University of Jaén (Plan Propio). We also acknowledge the Campus de Excelencia Agroalimentario CeiA3.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Área de Microbiología, Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071, Jaén, Spain

    Mª José Grande Burgos, Mª Carmen López Aguayo, Rubén Pérez Pulido, Antonio Gálvez & Rosario Lucas López

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  1. Mª José Grande Burgos
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  2. Mª Carmen López Aguayo
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Correspondence to Mª José Grande Burgos.

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Burgos, M.J.G., Aguayo, M.C.L., Pulido, R.P. et al. Multilocus sequence typing and antimicrobial resistance in Enterococcus faecium isolates from fresh produce. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 105, 413–421 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-013-0073-4

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