Rapid Identification of Enterococcus Faecalis Isolates by Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Rapid detection of Enterococcus faecalis as a frequent cause of nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients is an important issue. Herein, the current study developed a PCR assay based on the ef0737 gene to detect E. faecalis isolates. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 150 clinical isolates including E. faecalis, E. faecium and Staphylococcus aureus were collected. A set of pair primers was designed using the sequence of ef0737. All isolates were examined for the presence of ef0737 gene by PCR assay. The sensitivity of PCR assay was evaluated according to 50 clinical isolates of E. faecalis. The specificity of PCR primers was also determined using non-E. faecalis species including 50 E. faecium and 50 S. aureus isolates. FINDINGS: In this study, from 150 clinical isolates that were collected; all the 50 E. faecalis isolates showed positive results for the ef0737 gene which showed 100% sensitivity. No amplification were observed in other isolates include E. faecium and S. aureus. CONCLUSION: PCR assay is a more efficient and sensitive tool for detection and characterization of E. faecalis especially in patients with the critical condition. Identification of the preserved ef0737 gene in clinical samples may be able to determine infections caused by E. faecalis.

Keywords

• enterococcus faecalis
• ef073
• pcr