These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Apparent nosocomial adaptation of Enterococcus faecalis predates the modern hospital era.
    Author: Pöntinen AK, Top J, Arredondo-Alonso S, Tonkin-Hill G, Freitas AR, Novais C, Gladstone RA, Pesonen M, Meneses R, Pesonen H, Lees JA, Jamrozy D, Bentley SD, Lanza VF, Torres C, Peixe L, Coque TM, Parkhill J, Schürch AC, Willems RJL, Corander J.
    Journal: Nat Commun; 2021 Mar 09; 12(1):1523. PubMed ID: 33750782.
    Abstract:
    Enterococcus faecalis is a commensal and nosocomial pathogen, which is also ubiquitous in animals and insects, representing a classical generalist microorganism. Here, we study E. faecalis isolates ranging from the pre-antibiotic era in 1936 up to 2018, covering a large set of host species including wild birds, mammals, healthy humans, and hospitalised patients. We sequence the bacterial genomes using short- and long-read techniques, and identify multiple extant hospital-associated lineages, with last common ancestors dating back as far as the 19th century. We find a population cohesively connected through homologous recombination, a metabolic flexibility despite a small genome size, and a stable large core genome. Our findings indicate that the apparent hospital adaptations found in hospital-associated E. faecalis lineages likely predate the "modern hospital" era, suggesting selection in another niche, and underlining the generalist nature of this nosocomial pathogen.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]