Species distribution, molecular characteristics and vancomycin resistance gene profiles of Enterococcus sp. isolates from farmhouse cheeses in western Turkey

Species distribution, virulence traits and vancomycin resistance gene profiles of Enterococcus isolated from 43 home‐made artisan cheese samples collected from open markets, located in Aydin region of Turkey, were investigated. Of the 129 isolates, 95 were identified as Enterococcus sp.; Enterococcus faecium being the most prevalent species (82.1%), followed by Enterococcus faecalis (13.6%) and Enterococcus durans (1.0%). None of the enterococci were harbouring vanA or vanC, while seven isolates (7.3%) were shown to harbour vanB gene by multiplex PCR. gelE (49.4%) being the most prevalent virulence factor was followed by asa1 (27.3%), esp (22.1%), cylA (4.2%) and hyl (3.1%).