INVESTIGATION OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES IN ENTEROCOCCUS STRAINS ISOLATED FROM SUCUK, A TRADITIONAL DRY-FERMENTED TURKISH SAUSAGE

Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis are lactic acid bacteria frequently found in fermented meat products such as sausage. These bacteria are important in the fermentation process because they help shape the unique taste, texture, and shelf life of the product. Although some enterococci are known to cause infections, enterococci isolated from various foods, especially meat products, have been shown to have much lower pathogenic potential compared to clinical strains. This has increased interest in foodborne enterococci. In this study, the presence of antibiotic resistance genes for erythromycin (ermA, ermB, ermC), tetracycline (tetM, tetL), ciprofloxacin (gyrA), streptomycin (strA, strB, aadA, aadE), vancomycin (vanA, vanB), and gentamicin [(aac(6')aph(2''), aac(3'')II, aac(3'')IV)] was investigated in a total of 25 Enterococcus strains—E. faecium (24) and E. faecalis (1) —isolated from traditionally fermented sucuk samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). As a result of PCR analysis, the presence of the genes ermA, ermB, ermC, tetM, tetL, gyrA, strA, strB, aadA, aadE, vanA, vanB, aac(6')aph(2''), aac(3'')II, and aac(3'')IV was not detected in any isolate. Although previous disk diffusion tests indicated that certain strains were resistant to ciprofloxacin (13/25) and erythromycin (1/25), it was observed that these strains did not harbor the corresponding antibiotic resistance genes. Enterococcus species are generally regarded as having a questionable status in terms of food safety. In this study, the absence of the investigated antibiotic resistance genes in enterococci isolated from sausage provides a potential advantage for these strains with respect to food safety.