<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?

Since antiquity, the ubiquitous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Enterococci, which are just as predominant in both human and animal intestinal commensal flora, have been used (and still are) as probiotics in food and feed production. Their qualities encounter several hurdles, particularly in terms of the...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Mounir Ferchichi, Khaled Sebei, Amine Mohamed Boukerb, Najoua Karray-Bouraoui, Sylvie Chevalier, Marc G. J. Feuilloley, Nathalie Connil, Mohamed Zommiti
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	lactic acid bacteria probiotics enterococcus virulence legislation safety Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ba8c4976eab44b568a62caa3c28ebce0
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:ba8c4976eab44b568a62caa3c28ebce0
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ba8c4976eab44b568a62caa3c28ebce02021-11-25T18:24:23Z<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?10.3390/microorganisms91122222076-2607https://doaj.org/article/ba8c4976eab44b568a62caa3c28ebce02021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/11/2222https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2607Since antiquity, the ubiquitous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Enterococci, which are just as predominant in both human and animal intestinal commensal flora, have been used (and still are) as probiotics in food and feed production. Their qualities encounter several hurdles, particularly in terms of the array of virulence determinants, reflecting a notorious reputation that nearly prevents their use as probiotics. Additionally, representatives of the <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. genus showed intrinsic resistance to several antimicrobial agents, and flexibility to acquire resistance determinants encoded on a broad array of conjugative plasmids, transposons, and bacteriophages. The presence of such pathogenic aspects among some species represents a critical barrier compromising their use as probiotics in food. Thus, the genus neither has Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status nor has it been included in the Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) list implying drastic legislation towards these microorganisms. To date, the knowledge of the virulence factors and the genetic structure of foodborne enterococcal strains is rather limited. Although enterococcal infections originating from food have never been reported, the consumption of food carrying virulence enterococci seems to be a risky path of transfer, and hence, it renders them poor choices as probiotics. Auspiciously, enterococcal virulence factors seem to be strain specific suggesting that clinical isolates carry much more determinants that food isolates. The latter remain widely susceptible to clinically relevant antibiotics and subsequently, have a lower potential for pathogenicity. In terms of the ideal enterococcal candidate, selected strains deemed for use in foods should not possess any virulence genes and should be susceptible to clinically relevant antibiotics. Overall, implementation of an appropriate risk/benefit analysis, in addition to the case-by-case assessment, the establishment of a strain’s innocuity, and consideration for relevant guidelines, legislation, and regulatory aspects surrounding functional food development seem to be the crucial elements for industries, health-staff and consumers to accept enterococci, like other LAB, as important candidates for useful and beneficial applications in food industry and food biotechnology. The present review aims at shedding light on the world of hurdles and limitations that hampers the <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. genus and its representatives from being used or proposed for use as probiotics. The future of enterococci use as probiotics and legislation in this field are also discussed.Mounir FerchichiKhaled SebeiAmine Mohamed BoukerbNajoua Karray-BouraouiSylvie ChevalierMarc G. J. FeuilloleyNathalie ConnilMohamed ZommitiMDPI AGarticlelactic acid bacteriaprobioticsenterococcusvirulencelegislationsafetyBiology (General)QH301-705.5ENMicroorganisms, Vol 9, Iss 2222, p 2222 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	lactic acid bacteria probiotics enterococcus virulence legislation safety Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	lactic acid bacteria probiotics enterococcus virulence legislation safety Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Mounir Ferchichi Khaled Sebei Amine Mohamed Boukerb Najoua Karray-Bouraoui Sylvie Chevalier Marc G. J. Feuilloley Nathalie Connil Mohamed Zommiti <i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?
description	Since antiquity, the ubiquitous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Enterococci, which are just as predominant in both human and animal intestinal commensal flora, have been used (and still are) as probiotics in food and feed production. Their qualities encounter several hurdles, particularly in terms of the array of virulence determinants, reflecting a notorious reputation that nearly prevents their use as probiotics. Additionally, representatives of the <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. genus showed intrinsic resistance to several antimicrobial agents, and flexibility to acquire resistance determinants encoded on a broad array of conjugative plasmids, transposons, and bacteriophages. The presence of such pathogenic aspects among some species represents a critical barrier compromising their use as probiotics in food. Thus, the genus neither has Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status nor has it been included in the Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) list implying drastic legislation towards these microorganisms. To date, the knowledge of the virulence factors and the genetic structure of foodborne enterococcal strains is rather limited. Although enterococcal infections originating from food have never been reported, the consumption of food carrying virulence enterococci seems to be a risky path of transfer, and hence, it renders them poor choices as probiotics. Auspiciously, enterococcal virulence factors seem to be strain specific suggesting that clinical isolates carry much more determinants that food isolates. The latter remain widely susceptible to clinically relevant antibiotics and subsequently, have a lower potential for pathogenicity. In terms of the ideal enterococcal candidate, selected strains deemed for use in foods should not possess any virulence genes and should be susceptible to clinically relevant antibiotics. Overall, implementation of an appropriate risk/benefit analysis, in addition to the case-by-case assessment, the establishment of a strain’s innocuity, and consideration for relevant guidelines, legislation, and regulatory aspects surrounding functional food development seem to be the crucial elements for industries, health-staff and consumers to accept enterococci, like other LAB, as important candidates for useful and beneficial applications in food industry and food biotechnology. The present review aims at shedding light on the world of hurdles and limitations that hampers the <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. genus and its representatives from being used or proposed for use as probiotics. The future of enterococci use as probiotics and legislation in this field are also discussed.
format	article
author	Mounir Ferchichi Khaled Sebei Amine Mohamed Boukerb Najoua Karray-Bouraoui Sylvie Chevalier Marc G. J. Feuilloley Nathalie Connil Mohamed Zommiti
author_facet	Mounir Ferchichi Khaled Sebei Amine Mohamed Boukerb Najoua Karray-Bouraoui Sylvie Chevalier Marc G. J. Feuilloley Nathalie Connil Mohamed Zommiti
author_sort	Mounir Ferchichi
title	<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?
title_short	<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?
title_full	<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?
title_fullStr	<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?
title_full_unstemmed	<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?
title_sort	<i>enterococcus</i> spp.: is it a bad choice for a good use—a conundrum to solve?
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/ba8c4976eab44b568a62caa3c28ebce0
work_keys_str_mv	AT mounirferchichi ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT khaledsebei ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT aminemohamedboukerb ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT najouakarraybouraoui ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT sylviechevalier ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT marcgjfeuilloley ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT nathalieconnil ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve AT mohamedzommiti ienterococcusisppisitabadchoiceforagooduseaconundrumtosolve
_version_	1718411220754628608

<i>Enterococcus</i> spp.: Is It a Bad Choice for a Good Use—A Conundrum to Solve?

Ejemplares similares