While EF 2185 and EF2187 encodes transposases of

the IS256 family, the two remaining genes showed 100% identity to the two respective ends of a racemase domain protein in E. faecalis TX0104. Neighboring the epa cluster, two glycosyl transferases (EF2170 and EF2167) proposed as potential virulence factors [32], are part of a three operon locus (EF2172 to -66), possibly associated with lipopolysaccharide production. Five of the genes within this locus were also found to be enriched among CC2 in the present study. Paulsen et al. [32] also listed other putative surface-exposed virulence genes, including a choline-binding protein (CBP; EF2662) and a putative MSCRAMM (microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules; EF2347) that based on our analysis were found to Selleck SCH727965 be enriched in CC2. A role of CBPs in pneumococcal colonization and virulence has been established [49, 50]. A number of putative MSCRAMMs have been identified in E. faecalis [51], however, only Ace (adhesion of collagen from E. faecalis; EF1099) has been characterized in detail: Ace was shown to mediate

binding to collagen (type I and IV), dentin and laminin [52–54]. Lebreton Selleck Nepicastat et al. [55] recently presented evidence of an in vivo function of Ace in enterococcal infections other than involvement in the interaction with extracellular matrix. It was demonstrated that an ace deletion mutant was significantly impaired in virulence, both mafosfamide in an insect model and in an in vivo – in vitro Selleck VX-809 murine macrophage models. The authors suggested that Ace may promote E. faecalis phagocytosis and

that it may also be possible that Ace is involved in survival of enterococci inside phagocytic cells. Also the structurally related MSCRAMM, Acm, found in E. faecium was recently reported to contribute to the pathogenesis of this bacterium [56]. Mucins are high molecular weight glycoproteins expressed by a wide variety of epithelial cells, including those of the gastrointestinal tract, and located at the interface between the cell and the surrounding environment [57]. The binding of bacteria to mucins through mucin-binding domain proteins is thought to promote colonization [58]. Diversity in the carbohydrate side chains creates a significant heterogeneity among mucins of different origin (e.g. different organisms or body sites), facilitating bacterial attachment to epithelial cells [58]. The non-V583 CC2-enriched gene cluster identified through in silico analysis in the present study harboured an ORF (HMPREF0346_1863 and HMPREF0348_0427/HMPREF0348_0428 in HH22 and TX0104, respectively) with homology to known mucin-binding domain proteins. Conclusions In conclusion, we have identified a set of genes that appear to be enriched among strains belonging to CC2. Since a significant proportion (9.1%; p = 0.036, Fisher’s exact test) of these genes code for proteins associated with cell surface structures, absence of or divergence in these loci may lead to antigenic variation.