• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.883-892
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• 2018

Probiotics, including Enterococcus faecium, confer a health benefit on the host. An Enterococcus strain was isolated from healthy chicken cecum, identified as E. faecium by 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis, and designated as E. faecium L11. To evaluate the potential of E. faecium L11 as a probiotic, the gastrointestinal tolerance, immunomodulatory activity, and lifespan extension properties of the strain were assayed. E. faecium L11 showed >66% and >62% survival in artificial gastric juice (0.3% pepsin, pH 2.5) and simulated small intestinal juice (0.5% bile salt and 0.1% pancreatin), respectively. Heat-killed E. faecium L11 significantly (p < 0.05) increased immune cell proliferation compared with controls, and stimulated the production of cytokines (IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$) by activated macrophages obtained from ICR mice. In addition, E. faecium L11 showed a protective effect against Salmonella Typhimurium infection in Caenorhabditis elegans. In addition, feeding E. faecium L11 significantly (p < 0.05) extended the lifespan of C. elegans compared with the control. Furthermore, genes related to aging and host defense were upregulated in E. faecium L11-fed worms. In conclusion, E. faecium L11, which prolongs the lifespan of C. elegans, may be a potent probiotic supplement for livestock.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.323-327
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• 2014

To analyze the characteristics of bacteriophages in Enterococcus faecium, D-19 and F6 phages were induced from five E. faecium isolated from sprouts by the treatment with mitomycin C. The bacteriophages of D-19 and F-6 had long, non-contractile tails and icosahedral heads, and were members of Siphoviridae family. As the host spectrum, D-19 phage lysed five out of 55 strains of E. faecium, whereas F6 phage lysed only three strains. Both D-19 and F6 phages displayed similar and high stabilities against ethanol and pH capable of resisting the exposure to 100% ethanol and pH 4.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.172-179
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• 2017

The fermentation of Panax ginseng can yield many compounds from ginsenosides that have a wide variety of biological functions. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains are capable of converting ginsenosides. The purposes of this study were to: (1) characterize Enterococcus faecium SA5, an isolated LAB from Mongolian mare milk, (2) identify the existence of extracellular ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity in the milk, and (3) ascertain if the ${\beta}$-glucosidase has the capacity of converting ginsenoside in Korean ginseng. The results revealed that E. faecium SA5 was acid-resistant, bile salt-resistant, and has antibiotic activities against 4 pathogenic microorganisms (Salmonella typhimurium KCTC 3216, Listeria monocytogenes KCTC 3710, Bacillus cereus KCTC 1012, Staphylococcus aureus KCTC 1621). In addition, E. faecium SA5 had tolerance against some antibiotics such as colistin, gentamycin and neomycin. It was also found that E. faecium SA5 possessed bile salt hydrolase activity, which could lower blood cholesterol level. When incubated in 10% (w/v) skim milk as a yogurt starter, E. faecium SA5 caused to decrease pH of the medium as well as increase in viable cell counts. Using TLC and HPLC analysis on the samples incubated in MRS broth, our study confirmed that E. faecium SA5 can produce ${\beta}$-glucosidase, which was capable of converting ginsenoside $Rb_1$ into new ginsenosides $Rg_3-s$ and $Rg_3-r$. It was concluded that E. faecium SA5 possessed a potential of probiotic activity, which could be applied to yogurt manufacture as well as ginsenoside conversion in ginseng.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.83-85
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• 2012

Vancomycin-resistant (VR)-E. faecium and VR-E. faecalis were isolated simultaneously from a rectal swab of a patient diagnosed with pneumonia in an intensive care unit (ICU). The patient was treated with various antibiotics including vancomycin. Only VR-E. faecium was continually isolated from the rectal swab at one and two weeks of the treatment. Identical vanA, IS1216V, and IS1542 genes were detected in both VR-E. faecium and VR-E. faecalis isolates which showed equal resistance against vancomycin and teicoplanin, but IS1251 was not detected. VR-E. faecium showed stronger multi-drug resistance than VE-E. faecalis. This result supports the reason why VR-E. faecium is one of the major pathogens in nosocomial infections.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.581-586
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• 2004

The growth characteristics and the properties of the Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) isolated from intestine of slaughting pig were examined in order to confirm whether it will be used practically as probiotics or not. E. faecium was identified by morphological and biochemical tests including of final confirming by API strep kit. Among 264 samples, 44 isolates (16.7%) of E. faecium were observed as an exellent growth as a range of $1{\times}10^7CFU/ml{\sim}3.3{\times}10^9CFU/ml$ in viable bacterial count on MRI medium. All isolates were shown non-haemolysis on the blood agar exception of 28 isolates shown ${\alpha}$-haemolysis and were identified as E. faecium by biochemical test using API strep enzyme kits. Eight strains (18.2%) were finally selected from which they were excellent sensitivity in showing of the acid-tolerance and the bile-tolerance in compare with reference strain.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.116-120
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• 2001

The prevalence resistance genotype and antibiotic susceptibility of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) were determined. Prevalence of VRE in chickens, healthy children and intensive care unit (ICU) patients was 43.0%, 12.7% and 24.1%, respectively. Forty out of 56 isolates from chicken intestines were identified as Enterococcus faecium, and 12 were E. faecalis. All the isolates contained the vanA gene. Nine out of 13 VRE isolates from patients and two out of 21 from healthy young children were identified as E. faecium. The resistance types of E. faecium, E. gallinarium and E. casseliflavus were VanA, VanCl, and VanC2, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of E. faecium, E. gallinarium, and E. casseliflavus to vancomycin were 512,8 and 4 g/ml, respectively. Specifically, E. faecium isolates were resistant to most of antibiotics except ampicillin and gentamicin. This is the first report of high VanA type VRE prevalence in nonhospitalized young children in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.435-439
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• 2008

The antimicrobial resistance of 160 strains of Enterococcus faecalis and 173 strains of E. faecium to 12 antimicrobial agents was investigated. The test strains were isolated from 126 wild seawater and farmed fish, including olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), black rock fish (Sebastes schlegeli), red sea bream (Pagrus major), and sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus), in 2005 and 2006. Overall, 91.9% of the E. faecalis isolates and 88.4% of the E. faecium isolates showed antimicrobial resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent. The pattern of antimicrobial resistance of the isolates differed little according to the species of fish. The percentage of E. faecalis and E. faecium with specific antimicrobial resistance differed according to the sample source. For the isolates from farmed fish samples, 66.7% of E. faecalis were tetracycline resistant and 54.5% of E. faecium were erythromycin resistant. By contrast, in the wild fish seawater samples, 92.0% of E. faecalis were rifampin resistant and 88.5% of E. faecium were tetracycline resistant.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.188-195
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• 2012

To produce rapidly the traditional Kanjang soy sauce-like product with rich flavors, lactic acid bacteria of Enterococcus spp. isolated from Chungkukjang was used as one of starter cultures. Among 119 Enterococcus spp., eight strains were selected by protease-secreting activities and identified as four E. faecium, three E. faecalis, and one E. gallinarium. The strains showed low resistances toward eight antibiotics and had no resistant genes to the vancomycin. Especially, E. faecium O24 was cultivated well on 5% NaCl medium that was selected for further study as the starter. E. faecium O24 grew well on the steamed soybean and the counts increased by ten times overnight, which produced mostly 80 mg% glutamic acid and aspartic acid as the seasoning amino acids on the product. Various organic acids including principal lactic acid were also produced. Flavors of maltol and guaiacol, typical soy-sauce flavor, were produced in the mixed cultures of Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Candida versatilis. Therefore, E. faecium O24 could be a starter of soybean fermentation for soy sauce-like product with rich flavors rapidly.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2007

Eighty seven strains were isolated from 164 dried marine products(dried squid and dried alaska pollack etc) in Seoul Garak wholesale market. Among 87 isolates, twenty four E. faecalis and 4 E. faecium were identified by API strep kit. Twenty eight strains of E. faecalis, and E. faecium were resistant in streptomycin (95.6%), kanamycin (84.5%), gentamycin (66.7%), cephaloxin (97.8%), ampicillin/sulbactam (88.9%), ticarcillin(66.7%), amikacin (97.8%), sulfonamides (97.8%), ceftriaxone (75.6%), nalidixic acid (100.0%), and cefoxitin (100.0%), and were susceptible in amoxicillin/clavulanic acid(97.8%), chloramphenicol(95.6%), sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (97.8%), and tetracycline (71.1%). Also, ten strains of E. faecalis was resistant in $S-K-GM-CF-SAM-TIC-An-S_3-CRO-NA-FOX$ drugs simultaneously. Conclusively, E. faecalis strains from dried marine products were resistant on antibiotic drugs residue.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.246-253
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• 2004

The prevalence, genotype for antibiotic resistance and antibiotic susceptibility of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) were determined. And molecular typings of the Enterococcus faecium isolates were analyzed. Prevalence of VRE in chickens, healthy children and intensive care unit (ICU) patients was 41.6％,7.9％, and 20.4％, respectively. Forty out of 54 isolates from chicken intestines, and 9 out of 11 from ICU patients were identified as Enterococcus faecium. Eleven out of 13 isolates from non-hospitalized young children were E. gallinarium. Twelve strains of E. faecalis were isolated from chicken intestines. The gene for the antibiotic resistance in E. faecium, and E. faecalis was vanA, while that in E. gallinarium was vanC1. E. faecium isolates were resistant to most of antibiotics except ampicillin and gentamicin. Molecular typing of the E. faecium strains obtained by pulse field gel electrophoresis and repetitive sequence-based PCR suggest that VRE transmit horizontally from poultry to humans, especially young children, via the food chains in Korea.