Prevalence of virulence factors in Enterococus faecalis isolated from hamburger

Subject Areas : Food Microbial Contamination

Razeyeh Mehdeyan ¹ , الهه Tajbakhsh ² , zahra bamzaheh ³

1 - Graduated of Microbiology, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord-Iran
2 - Department of Microbiology, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord-Iran
3 - Department of Microbiology, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord-Iran

Received: 2020-12-19 Accepted : 2021-03-19 Published : 2021-12-22

Keywords: Virulence genes, Enterococcus faecalis, Hambergure,

Abstract :

Enterococci are microorganisms that are mainly found in the intestines. Their high presence in food can be a cause of fecal contamination and they are isolated from various foods such as: vegetables, meat, etc. Among the food, hamburger is one of the products that is used by hand and widely by people. In this study, 50 hamburger samples were examined for biochemical and molecular methods for the presence of Enterococcus faecalis. In order to detect virulence genes in the presence of specific primer pairs, PCR reaction temperature program was performed. In this study, out of 50 samples, 33 samples (66%) were infected with E. faecalis. Of 33 E. faecalis isolates isolated from hamburgers, efaA reported in 8 isolates (24.24%), cylA reported in 15 isolates (45.45%), gel E reported in 9 isolates (27.27%), esp reported in 2 isolates (6.06%), agg reported in 2 isolates (6.06%), and aca, asa and cyl B were not observed in any of the isolates. Enterococci and coliforms are considered as two important health indicators. Considering that the high presence of enterococci in food can be a reason for fecal contamination, the results of this study indicate high contamination of burgers offered in Shahrekord city.