Yu SooHo, Kang Minhee, Yoo Yeonjae, Kim Tae Yeul, Huh Hee Jae, Lee Nam Yong
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Biomedical Engineering Research Center, Smart Healthcare Research Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 2;19(12):e0312953. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312953. eCollection 2024.
The genus Enterococcus is increasingly recognized for its involvement in various human infections, with several species known to be pathogenic. This study characterized Enterococcus sp. SMC-9, isolated from bile of a patient with cholangitis, and compared its characteristics with those of Enterococcus montenegrensis CoE-012-22T, recently isolated from dried beef sausage. A comprehensive analysis, encompassing phylogenetic, genomic, and phenotypic studies, confirmed that strain SMC-9 belongs to the same species as E. montenegrensis CoE-012-22T. However, comparative genomic analysis revealed key differences in virulence and antibiotic resistance gene profiles between the two strains. Notably, genes related to exopolysaccharide biosynthesis and the L-rhamnose biosynthesis pathway were found exclusively in strain SMC-9, suggesting their role in the strain's colonization of the biliary tract and its involvement in cholangitis. Additionally, the tetracycline resistance gene tet(M), which was absent in E. montenegrensis CoE-012-22T, was identified in strain SMC-9, explaining its high tetracycline minimum inhibitory concentration (>16 μg/mL). These findings highlight the unique pathogenic traits of strain SMC-9 compared to E. montenegrensis CoE-012-22T. Our study underscores the significant genetic and phenotypic variations that can exist among strains within the same species, highlighting the critical need for strain typing to assess their potential impact on patient outcomes and public health.
肠球菌属因其在各种人类感染中的作用而越来越受到认可，已知有几个物种具有致病性。本研究对从一名胆管炎患者胆汁中分离出的肠球菌属菌株SMC-9进行了特征分析，并将其特征与最近从牛肉干香肠中分离出的黑山肠球菌CoE-012-22T的特征进行了比较。一项包括系统发育、基因组和表型研究的综合分析证实，菌株SMC-9与黑山肠球菌CoE-012-22T属于同一物种。然而，比较基因组分析揭示了这两种菌株在毒力和抗生素抗性基因谱方面的关键差异。值得注意的是，与胞外多糖生物合成和L-鼠李糖生物合成途径相关的基因仅在菌株SMC-9中发现，这表明它们在该菌株在胆道的定殖及其参与胆管炎中的作用。此外，在菌株SMC-9中鉴定出了黑山肠球菌CoE-012-22T中不存在的四环素抗性基因tet(M)，这解释了其高四环素最低抑菌浓度(>16μg/mL)。这些发现突出了菌株SMC-9与黑山肠球菌CoE-012-22T相比独特的致病特征。我们的研究强调了同一物种内菌株之间可能存在的显著遗传和表型变异，突出了进行菌株分型以评估它们对患者预后和公共卫生潜在影响的迫切需要。
