Analysis of global drug-resistant genes， sequence types， and epidemic characteristics in Enterococcus faecium

doi:10.3877/cma.j.issn.2095-5820.2025.01.004

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective

To analyze the global distribution， sequence types （ST）， and epidemiological characteristics of antibiotic-resistant genes among global Enterococcus faecium， providing insights for antimicrobial agent usage and nosocomial infection control.

Methods

A total of 3256 genomic sequences of Enterococcus faecium were obtained from the national center of biotechnology information（NCBI） website. Nucleotide sequences were extracted from GenBank files using Perl， and annotation was conducted using Prodigal. Quality filtering of each genome was performed with CheckM v1.1.3 and Quest 5.0.2 software， resulting in 2235 high-quality genomes for further analysis. A structured antibiotic-resistant genes （ARGs） database was constructed， and genomic sequences were aligned against it using blastn for detailed ARGs distribution analysis. 7 Enterococcus faecium housekeeping gene sequence and profile files were obtained from the pubMLST website and underwent blastn alignment to determine ST results. Strain information， including isolation time， country， host， and sample sourcewas extracted from GenBank files using Perl for comprehensive analysis.

Results

Multilocus sequence typing results revealed ST17 as the predominant global sequence type， with 104 strains detected （6.9%）. ARGs detection indicated that 99.7%of strains harbored aminoglycoside-resistant genes， and 94.0% carried macrolide/lincosamide/streptogramin B-resistant genes.

Conclusions

Global Enterococcus faecium ST is predominantly characterized by ST17，while in China， ST78 is predominant. The most prevalent ARG globally and in China is aac（6）-I， conferring resistance to aminoglycosides. Strengthening monitoring and research on ARGs carriage is imperative to standardize antimicrobial usage， enhance surveillance and control of Enterococcus faecium infections in healthcare settings， and prevent widespread occurrence.

Key words: Enterococcus faecium, antibiotic resistance genes, sequence types, epidemic distribution

Ruyu Yan, Han Shen, Xiaoli Cao. Analysis of global drug-resistant genes， sequence types， and epidemic characteristics in Enterococcus faecium[J]. Chinese Journal of Clinical Laboratory Management(Electronic Edition), 2025, 13(01): 27-34.

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References 30

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