identification of anti-microbial producing enterococci isolated from iranian raw milk cheeses using polyphasic approach

a collection of enterococci  spp. (about 96 isolates) were isolated from two iranian raw milk cheeses, namely lighvan and koozeh, and subsequently, identified as enterococcus faecium , enterococcus faecalis , enterococcus durans , enterococcus casseliflavus and enterococcus italicus by 16s rdna sequencing. all of the 96 isolates were subjected to agar-spot and well-diffusion assay in order to detect their ability to produce anti-microbial compounds. according to agar-spot method, 48 out of the 96 isolates produced clear-zone on the plates against indicator organisms. with well-diffusion assay, the positive isolates with clear zone decreased to 20 isolates. these 20 isolates (strains) were then subjected to rep-pcr for typing, and 15 distinct rep-pcr profiles (patterns) were identified. from these 15 positive strains, 11 strains were found to belong to enterococcus  faecium .