Nature Communications (Mar 2021)

Apparent nosocomial adaptation of Enterococcus faecalis predates the modern hospital era

  • Anna K. Pöntinen,
  • Janetta Top,
  • Sergio Arredondo-Alonso,
  • Gerry Tonkin-Hill,
  • Ana R. Freitas,
  • Carla Novais,
  • Rebecca A. Gladstone,
  • Maiju Pesonen,
  • Rodrigo Meneses,
  • Henri Pesonen,
  • John A. Lees,
  • Dorota Jamrozy,
  • Stephen D. Bentley,
  • Val F. Lanza,
  • Carmen Torres,
  • Luisa Peixe,
  • Teresa M. Coque,
  • Julian Parkhill,
  • Anita C. Schürch,
  • Rob J. L. Willems,
  • Jukka Corander

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21749-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Enterococcus faecalis is a commensal microorganism of animals, insects and humans, but also a nosocomial pathogen. Here, the authors analyse genomic sequences from E. faecalis isolates from animals and humans, and find that the last common ancestors of multiple hospital-associated lineages date to the pre-antibiotic era.