Abstract

Published data concerning correlation between virulence factors and resistance markers is relatively scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between antibiotic resistance, gelatinase production and pheromone response in the Enterococcus faecalis pathogens isolated from Egypt. Out of the 19 E. faecalis clinical isolates, 5 were able to produce gelatinase enzyme. These virulent isolates were multidrug resistant and showed high level vancomycin resistance. They were tested for mating ability. They cotransfered pheromone response genes together with vancomycin resistance determinants and gelatinase production to sensitive recipient strains. The gel E gene was detected in all donor isolates and their corresponding transconjugants phenotypically and genotypically. The PCR amplicons of a heavy gelatinase producing isolate and its transconjugants were subjected to sequencing. Significant homology was detected with OG1RF strain following sequence search with a GenBank database. Statistical analysis revealed significant positive direct correlation between vancomycin- and chloramphenicol-resistance, and gelatinase production in E. faecalis isolates.

Key words: Correlation, Enterococcus faecalis, gelatinase, antimicrobial resistance, conjugation.