Aerococcus urinae Isolated from Women with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Aggregation and Genome Analysis.

is increasingly recognized as a potentially significant urinary tract bacterium. has been isolated from urine collected from both males and females with a wide range of clinical conditions, including urinary tract infection (UTI), urgency urinary incontinence (UUI), and overactive bladder (OAB). is of particular clinical concern because it is highly resistant to many antibiotics and, when undiagnosed, can cause invasive and life-threatening bacteremia, sepsis, or soft tissue infections. Previous genomic characterization studies have examined strains isolated from patients experiencing UTI episodes. Here, we analyzed the genomes of strains isolated as part of the urinary microbiome from patients with UUI or OAB. Furthermore, we report that certain strains exhibit aggregative phenotypes, including flocking, which can be modified by various growth medium conditions. Finally, we performed in-depth genomic comparisons to identify pathways that distinguish flocking and nonflocking strains. is a urinary bacterium of emerging clinical interest. Here, we explored the ability of 24 strains of isolated from women with lower urinary tract symptoms to display aggregation phenotypes We sequenced and analyzed the genomes of these strains. We performed functional genomic analyses to determine whether the hyperflocking aggregation phenotype displayed by certain strains was related to the presence or absence of certain pathways. Our findings demonstrate that strains have different propensities to display aggregative properties and suggest a potential association between phylogeny and flocking.