A variant enterococcal surface protein Esp(fm) in Enterococcus faecium; distribution among food, commensal, medical, and environmental isolates.

Enterococci are increasingly important causes of nosocomial disease. Also, they are associated with food and have a history of use as dairy starter and probiotic cultures. An enterococcal surface protein Esp(fs) is involved the virulence and biofilm-forming capacity of Enterococcus faecalis and recently we demonstrated the presence of a homologue Esp(fm) in E. faecium. Here we describe the complete structure of Esp(fm) and demonstrate that its distribution in E. faecium correlates with disease associated strains from a range of pathological sites.