Abstract
Twenty-five strains of lactic acid bacteria which were acid producing, catalase-negative and gram-positive had been isolated from 45l of deep-seawater samples in Toyama Bay, Japan by the membrane filter method performed using the modified de Man-Rogosa-Sharpe (MRS) agar medium. Eleven strains out of them were classified as 8 of Enterococcus faecium, as 2 of Enterococcus durans and as one of Enterococcus faecalis based on morphological and physiological characteristics, together with the results of API20strep identification kit. The strains TN-3 and TN-9, which were resembled E. faecium and E. faecalis, should be identified as E. durans and E. faecalis by the 16S rDNA analyses, respectively. These 2 strains had equal antimicrobial profile for their type strain. The MIC values of TN-3 and TN-9 for vancomycin were 0.5μg/mL and 1.0μg/mL, and the vancomycin resistance genes were not detected in these 2 strains.
