Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin St./MSB 1.174, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Enterococcus faecalis transposon insertion mutants were screened for attenuated killing of the nematode model host Caenorhabditis elegans. The genes disrupted in the attenuated mutants encode a variety of factors including transcriptional regulators, transporters, and damage control and repair systems. Five of nine mutants tested were attenuated in a mouse peritonitis model.