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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Enterococcus faecium
Category: In the normal flora
Etymology: Genus name: cocci (grains or berries) from the intestine
Species epithet: of feces
Significance:Have great importance because they often carry antibiotic resistance genes. One of the most significant is van A gene, which confers resistance to vancomycin and since 2001 it is appearing in broilers in Sweden. Vancomycin resistant enterococci are referred to as VRE.
  [Important]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Bacillota
Class
Bacilli
Order
Lactobacillales
Family
Enterococcaceae 
Genus
Enterococcus
Type Strain: ATCC 19434 = CCUG 542 = NCTC 7171.
Macromorphology (smell):
   
Micromorphology: Nonmotile cocci.
Gram +/Gram -:
 
G+
Metabolism: Facultatively anaerobic
Catalase/Oxidase:-/?
Other Enzymes: Esculinase +, α-galactosidase -, β-galactosidase +, hippuricase v.
Fermentation of carbohydrates:
D-glucose
+
lactose
+
maltose
+
L-rhamnose
v
sucrose
v
L-arabinose
+
cellobiose
+
D-mannitol
v
salicin
?
trehalose
+
glycerol
v
inulin
-
raffinose
v
D-sorbitol
v
starch
-
Other carbohydrates: D-Fructose +, galactose +, melibiose v, ribose +, xylitol -.
Spec. Char.:
Special Media:
Enterococcus faecium  Enterococcus faecium  Enterococcus faecium  
E. faecium can be cultivated on purple agar and ferments lactose under acid production (see Fig. 190:4). SlaBa agar is a selective medium, which is used for surface streaking and enumeration of Enterococcus spp.
Disease:Animals: Opportunist, which can cause infections in poultry of low age (e.g., air sac inflammation and arthritis). Man: opportunist causing mainly hospital-related and sometimes serious infections.
Hosts: Included in the normal intestinal flora of mammals (including humans) and birds.
Clinical Picture:
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
CP003583 DO 2 698 137 1c + 3c 

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
AJ276355 DSM20477T 1533 

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
 
About 50 species have been described within the genus Streptococcus. Many species within the genus Enterococcus have earlier been classified as streptococci and, thus, they are closely related.E. faecium and E. faecalis as well as E. avium are rather closely related.
Updated:2023-03-08

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