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Establishment and characterization of silver-resistant Enterococcus faecalis

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Abstract

Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive facultative anaerobe involved in many fatal or refractory infections of humans. Silver, often used as silver ions (Ag+) or nanoparticles (AgNPs), is a strong and broad-spectrum antibacterial agent, but E. faecalis shows resistance against it. Despite this, the knowledge about the resistance of E. faecalis against silver is still lacking. In this study, the silver-resistant E. faecalis strains (AgR and ANR E. faecalis) were established through a serial selection method. Their biological and silver-resistant features as well as the Gene Ontology (GO) in comparison with the original E. faecalis were evaluated. The results showed that the silver-resistant E. faecalis could proliferate as original bacteria and had strong resistance against both Ag+ and AgNPs. The minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of AgNO3 on original, AgR, and ANR E. faecalis were 400 mg/L, 600 mg/L, and 500 mg/L, and the MBCs of AgNPs on these strains were 80 mg/L, 110 mg/L, and 130 mg/L, respectively. GO analysis revealed significant difference (P < 0.05) in gene expressions of biological process (BP), cellular component (CC), and molecular function (MF) among original, AgR, and ANR E. faecalis. These findings provided a significant basis for further understanding and managing the silver-resistance of E. faecalis in infection-control environments. The mechanism behind Ag+/AgNPs resistance of E. faecalis needs to be further investigated.

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Funding

This research was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81570969).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, 237 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430079, People’s Republic of China

    Jingwen Cui, Qing Sun, Mengting Duan, Danfeng Liu & Wei Fan

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  1. Jingwen Cui
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  2. Qing Sun
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  3. Mengting Duan
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  4. Danfeng Liu
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  5. Wei Fan
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Correspondence to Wei Fan.

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Cui, J., Sun, Q., Duan, M. et al. Establishment and characterization of silver-resistant Enterococcus faecalis. Folia Microbiol 65, 721–733 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-020-00778-5

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