PCR detection of sequences similar to the AS-48 structural gene in bacteriocin-producing enterococci.

Three oligonucleotide primers, specific for the structural gene of antimicrobial peptide AS-48, were used to study the distribution of sequences similar to this gene in 15 independently isolated bacteriocin-producing Enterococcus strains by semi-nested PCR. Eight of 10 Ent. faecalis strains and three of five Ent. faecium strains gave a positive result in both reactions of the semi-nested PCR. These findings indicate that bacteriocins produced by many enterococcal strains are very closely related or even identical to peptide AS-48.