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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2003, p. 312-319, Vol. 69, No. 1
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.1.312-319.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Raw-Milk Cheese Consumption on the Enterococcal Flora of Human Feces

Roberto Gelsomino,1* Marc Vancanneyt,1 Timothy M. Cogan,2 and Jean Swings1

BCCM/LMG Bacteria Culture Collection, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium,1 National Dairy Products Research Centre, Teagasc, Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland2

Received 8 July 2002/ Accepted 30 October 2002

Enterococci are one of the major facultative anaerobic bacterial groups that reside in the human gastrointestinal tract. In the present study, the composition of the enterococcal fecal flora in three healthy humans was analyzed before, during, and after the daily consumption of ~125 g of a raw-milk Cheddar-type cheese containing 3.2 x 104 enterococci/g of cheese. Enterococcal counts ranged between 1.4 x 102 and 2.5 x 108 CFU/g of feces and differed from subject to subject and from week to week. The cheese contained mainly Enterococcus casseliflavus and a small population of Enterococcus faecalis. Clonal relationships were determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Before and after consumption of the cheese, samples from humans contained mainly Enterococcus faecium, with some of the clones being resident. During consumption of the cheese, one particular transient clone of E. faecalis, clone Fs2, which was present in small numbers in the cheese, largely dominated the feces. Two clones of E. casseliflavus from the cheese were also found in the feces of one of the subjects during cheese consumption. These results suggest that a clone need not be present in a food in high numbers to establish itself in the intestine.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, University of Ghent, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Phone: 32 9 264 5102. Fax: 32 9 264 5092. E-mail: roberto.gelsomino{at}rug.ac.be.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2003, p. 312-319, Vol. 69, No. 1
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.1.312-319.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Macovei, L., Zurek, L. (2007). Influx of Enterococci and Associated Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Genes from Ready-To-Eat Food to the Human Digestive Tract. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6740-6747 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lester, C. H., Frimodt-Moller, N., Sorensen, T. L., Monnet, D. L., Hammerum, A. M. (2006). In Vivo Transfer of the vanA Resistance Gene from an Enterococcus faecium Isolate of Animal Origin to an E. faecium Isolate of Human Origin in the Intestines of Human Volunteers. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 596-599 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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