Occurrence of enterocin genes, virulence factors, and antibiotic resistance in 3 bacteriocin-producer Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from Turkish tulum cheese

In this study, the occurrence of enterocin genes, virulence factors, and antibiotic resistance in the bacteriocin-producer Enterococcus faecium EYT17, EYT31, and EYT39 strains was investigated. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) studies showed that all of the E. faecium strains carried the enterocin A and B structural genes (entA and entB), while E. faecium EYT17 and EYT31 strains also carried the enterocin P structural gene (entP). None of the strains exhibited beta-haemolysis or gelatinase activity. PCR analysis revealed that EYT17, EYT31, and EYT39 strains were clear of potential virulence determinants, except for ccf and efaAfm. The ccf gene was found in all of them. The efaAfm gene was only found in the EYT17 strain. All of the strains were found sensitive to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, norfloxacin, penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and vancomycin by disc diffusion method. E. faecium strains only exhibited intermediary resistance to erythromycin (15 mu g). The results of this study showed that the multiple enterocin-producer E. faecium EYT17, EYT31, and EYT39 strains are safe and these strains may be used for food preservation.