Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Azad university of Karaj-Iran

2 Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.

3 Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute.Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.

Abstract

Enterococcus plays an important role in various industries. Some Enterococci isolated from dairy and breast milk has been reported as probiotics. However, these species selected as starter cultures or as probiotics should be evaluated for their safety and the absence of different virulence traits including virulence genes and antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to determine the safety of locally isolated Enterococcus species biochemically and targeting essential virulence genes by PCR method. A number of suspected Enterococcus species isolated from ewe milk, traditional cheese and mothers' milk were identified to genus level by phenotypic characteristics and 16SrRNA sequencing. The selected isolates were screened for their probiotic properties by determining their acid and bile resistance, antibacterial activity against a number of pathogens and antibiotic resistance. Phenotypic virulence parameters including lipase, DNAse and hemolysis of red blood cells, was determined. The presence or absence of a number of virulence genes including asa1, hyl, esp, agg, gelE, cylA, cylB, cylM, efaAfm, efaAfs and vancomycin resistance genes including vanA, vanH, vanR and vanY was evaluated. The results of this study determined the probiotic properties of some of these species. Four isolates showed acid and bile salt tolerance and showed significant antimicrobial effects. All isolates from Breast milk, lacked virulence genes. In virulance phenotypic experiments, all strains were alpha hemolytic. All strains were susceptible to Tetracycline, Cephalothin Amoxicillin, Cefazolin and Doxycycline and all of them except the TA00154 strain, were resistant to Nalidixic acid and Trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole.

Keywords

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