Vlc. Merquior et al., ANALYSIS OF ELECTROPHORETIC WHOLE-CELL PROTEIN PROFILES AS A TOOL FORCHARACTERIZATION OF ENTEROCOCCUS SPECIES, Current microbiology, 28(3), 1994, pp. 149-153
The whole-cell protein-profiling technique was evaluated for identifyi
ng Enterococcus species. Reference strains, strains from human infecti
ons, from animals other than human, and from environmental sources wer
e studied. Whole-cell extracts were obtained by lysozyme treatment and
were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electropho
resis and densitometry. Each Enterococcus species had a unique and dis
tinguishable whole-cell protein profile. The major differences among s
pecies-specific profiles were found in the positions corresponding to
60-40 and 30-20 kDa. Profiles of the same species did not show qualita
tive variations. Analysis of whole-cell protein profiles was shown to
be a relatively simple, easy, and reproducible procedure for the relia
ble and fast differentiation and identification of the enterococcal sp
ecies.