Exploring Enterococcus Species for their Next-Generation Probiotics Potential

Abstract

The genus Enterococcus is the third largest genus in the group lactic acid bacteria and has ubiquitous distributions with plenty of biomedical as well as other industrial applications. Tolerance to harsh conditions, genome plasticity, antimicrobial potential, enterocins production, and greater survivability are the key properties of enterococcal species that make them a suitable probiotic agent. Likewise, the presence of dozens of virulence traits, antibiotic resistance, and opportunistic pathogenic nature raises a serious concern regarding their safety. Still, it is a debate whether enterococcal species are used as probiotics or not, but their current industrial applications and preliminary positive attributes indicate their next-generation probiotic potential. Recent advancements in molecular techniques and genomic elucidation studies have increased the number of enterococcal species to more than 80, dominated by Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis. A greater number of enterococcal species are identified in the twenty-first century, and thus, their next-generation probiotic potential is not defined yet. Many of the recently identified species are targeted for different applications and they showed promising results indicating the need to investigate their NGP potential. Hence, this chapter aims to provide the recent and updated literature about the common enterococcal species, their distinguishing characteristics, and the available data that revealed or directed their next-generation probiotic potential.