PCR amplification of a species-specific putative transcriptional regulator gene reveals the identity of Enterococcus faecalis

Enterococcus faecalis, an opportunistic bacterial pathogen, has become prominent in recent decades due to its ability to develop resistance to various antibiotics. The ability to rapidly identify E. faecalis, followed by prompt treatment, is therefore vital for the control of this pathogen. In this report, upon comparative BLAST search of the E. faecalis genome against other bacterial DNA sequences at GenBank, an E. faecalis-specific gene Ef0027, that codes for a putative phosphosugar binding transcriptional regulator, was identified. Using PCR primers derived from this gene (i.e., Ef0027F/R), a specific DNA fragment of 518 bp was detected in E. faecalis strains only, and it was not found in other Enterococcus species and common bacteria. These results suggest that PCR amplification of the putative transcriptional regulator gene Ef0027 provides a useful means of identifying E. faecalis from other bacteria.