| Title: | Frequency of aggregation substance and cytolysin genes among enterococcal endocarditis isolates |
| Address: | "Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73104, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0147-619X (Print) 0147-619X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Enterococcus faecalis blood isolates were probed for the serine protease activator of cytolysin (cylA) and aggregation substance (asa1), traits that generally reside on pheromone-responsive plasmids, to determine how commonly these genotypes were associated with disease. In dot blot assays, no significant difference was found in the frequency of asa1 for blood isolates [55 of 103 (54%)] and isolates recovered from stool [9 of 14 (60%); P > 0.1, chi 2 test]. In contrast, cylA occurred more frequently among bacteremia isolates [34 of 68 (50%)] than endocarditis [4 of 35 (11%)] or stool isolates (0 of 14; P < 0.001; chi 2 test). However, when the clonality of isolates was accounted for, the frequency of asa1 and cylA among unrelated strains was not significantly different among the three sets of strains (P > 0.2, chi 2 test). The lack of enrichment for asa1 or cylA among clonally unrelated E. faecalis bloodstream isolates fails to support a role for plasmid-encoded aggregation substance or cytolysin in the transition from bacteremia to endocarditis. Clonally related, cytolytic strains, however, demonstrated an increased propensity to cause bloodstream infection" |
| Keywords: | "Amino Acid Sequence Bacterial Proteins/*genetics Base Sequence Cytotoxins/*genetics DNA Primers/genetics Endocarditis, Bacterial/*microbiology Enterococcus faecalis/*genetics/*isolation & purification/pathogenicity *Genes, Bacterial Gram-Positive Bacteria;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineHuycke, M M Gilmore, M S eng EY-08289/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 1995/09/01 Plasmid. 1995 Sep; 34(2):152-6. doi: 10.1006/plas.1995.9992" |
