2CS-CHX ^T Operon Signature of Chlorhexidine Tolerance among Enterococcus faecium Isolates

Abstract

Chlorhexidine is one of the substances included in the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines, which comprises the safest and most effective medicines needed in global health systems. Although it has been widely applied as a disinfectant and antiseptic in health care (skin, hands, mouthwashes, eye drops) since the 1950s, its use in hospitals to prevent nosocomial infections has increased worldwide in recent years. Here, we provide a comprehensive study on chlorhexidine tolerance among strains of Enterococcus faecium , one of the leading nosocomial agents worldwide, and identify a novel 2CS-CHX T operon as a signature of tolerant strains occurring in diverse phylogenomic groups. Our data allowed for the proposal of a tentative epidemiological cutoff of 8 mg/liter, which is useful to detect tolerant E. faecium populations in surveillance studies in community and clinical contexts. The prediction of 2CS-CHX T regulons will also facilitate the design of future experimental studies to better uncover chlorhexidine tolerance among E. faecium bacteria.