Cloning of the bile salt hydrolase (bsh) gene from Enterococcus faecium FAIR-E 345 and chromosomal location of bsh genes in food enterococci.

Enterococcus faecium strain FAIR-E 345 isolated from food was shown to possess bile salt hydrolase (Bsh) activity in a plate screening assay and by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The bsh gene was cloned and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis revealed that it encoded a protein of 324 amino acids, with pI 4.