Draft genome sequence of Enterococcus faecium E86, a strain producing broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides: Description of a novel bacteriocin immunity protein and a novel sequence type.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to report the draft genome sequence of the bacteriocinogenic strain Enterococcus faecium E86. Bacteriocins are prokaryotic peptides or proteins with antimicrobial activity. The genome information may contribute to the identification of enterocins produced by this strain that exhibit inhibitory activity against the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) involved in human infections, among other bacterial genera and species. METHODS: An Illumina MiSeq platform was used for genome sequencing. De novo assembly of 5 735 838 paired-end reads was done using the A5-miseq pipeline, yielding >300-fold average genome coverage. Genome annotation was performed by the RAST server, and mining of the bacteriocinogenic gene clusters was done using the BAGEL3 and antiSMASH v.4 platforms. RESULTS: The total scaffold size was determined to be 2 689 107 bp, approximately 2.7 Mbp, featuring a G + C content of 38.1%. The genome contains 2858 coding sequences and 74 RNA genes. Genome analyses revealed the presence of: 30 genes involved in drug resistance; 2 bacteriocinogenic gene clusters (for enterocin P and enterocin TW21); EntiTW21, a novel bacteriocin immunity protein and a novel multilocus sequence type (ST1500). CONCLUSION: This work highlights the potential biotechnological application of this strain for the production of enterocin P, a bacteriocin that can be employed in the food industry as a biopreservative against L. monocytogenes and as an alternative to classical antibiotics against VRE.

Genetic and biochemical characterization of hyicin 3682, the first bacteriocin reported for Staphylococcus hyicus.

Hyicin 3682, the first bacteriocin reported for Staphylococcus hyicus, is a BsaCOL variant produced by S. hyicus 3682, a strain isolated from bovine milk. Hyicin 3682 is found in the culture supernatant, is bactericidal and its producing strain exhibits a much broader spectrum of antimicrobial activity than the producing strain of BsaCOL against several Gram-positive bacteria, which include foodborne pathogens, food-spoilage microorganisms and bacterial species of medical and veterinary importance. Sequencing of the genome of S. hyicus 3682 provided the nucleotide sequence of the entire gene cluster involved in hyicin 3682 production, which seems to be located on pRJ109, the single plasmid carried by this strain. This gene cluster is expressed and consists of 8525bp and of eight genes (hyiA, hyiB, hyiC, hyiD, hyiP, hyiF, hyiE and hyiG) encoded on the same DNA strand. The mature lantibiotic exhibits 91% identity to BsaCOL and its molecular mass was found to be ∼26Da higher due to two amino acid substitutions. S. hyicus 3682 proved to be only partially immune to its cognate bacteriocin up to 1024 AU/ml. Therefore, hyicin 3682, the first Bsa variant reported in coagulase-negative staphylococci, does exhibit antimicrobial and siblicidal activities.