Prevalance of genes involved in pili and biofilm formation and in vitro adherence properties of medical and fecal strains of Enterococcus faecalis isolated in Gdańsk

Figures & data

Table I.  Prevalence of enterococcal pili genes in clinical and fecal isolates.

Bacteria	No ebp genes	ebpA alone	ebpB alone	ebpA + ebpB
Fecal isolates	10/38	9/38 (24%)	7/38 (18%)	12/38 (31%)
Clinical isolates	0/40*	0/40*	0/40 *	40/40 (100%)*
Reference strains	0/2	0/2	0/2	2/2

*Differences between fecal and clinical isolates at p<0.05.

Table II.  Adherence determined by biofilm assay (ANOVA comparison between columns 2–4 and 5–7).

Presence of genes	No adherence genes	esp or agg gene	agg + esp	No pili-encoding genes	ebpA or ebpB	ebpA + ebpB
Mean optical density	0.175	0.4	1.97	0.175	1.32	1.96
SE	0.638	0.45	0.23	0.69	0.49	0.25
ANOVA comparison	F = 4.65, p =0.02			F = 7.58, p=0.003

Table III.  Adherence determined by nephelometric method (ANOVA comparison between columns 2–4 and 5–7).

Presence of genes	No adherence genes	esp or agg gene	agg + esp	No pili-encoding genes	ebpA or ebpB	ebpA + ebpB
Percentage of adherent cells	62.5%	70.5%	84%	62.5%	87.2%	83%
SE	0.02	0.01	0.07	0.038	0.022	0.02
ANOVA comparison	F = 136.31, p<0.01			F = 1.5849, p=0.2248