ANALYSIS OF ELECTROPHORETIC WHOLE-CELL PROTEIN PROFILES AS A TOOL FORCHARACTERIZATION OF ENTEROCOCCUS SPECIES

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.