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Liu Q, Wang H, Zhang S, Yan G, Yang X, Bai X, Deng J, Chen X, Zhang L, Zhang J, Wang B, Zou N, Xiong Y, Zhang Z. Escherichia albertii isolated from the bloodstream of a patient with liver cirrhosis in China: A case report. Heliyon 2023; 9:e22298. [PMID: 38058622 PMCID: PMC10695973 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A rare case of bacteremia caused by Escherichia albertii, in a 50-year-old male with liver cirrhosis was reported. Clear, colorless, and circular colonies were recovered on blood agar after 24 h of aerobic incubation at 37 °C. The isolate was identified as E. albertii using MALDI-TOF/MS and confirmed by the diagnostic triplex-PCR targeting clpX, lysP, and mdh genes. The administration of piperacillin/tazobactam intravenously (4.5g every 8 hours) for 3 days was effective. This study suggested that specific strains of E. albertii have been implicated in causing extraintestinal infections in humans, similar to extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). However, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms requires further exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Hong Wang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Suchuan Zhang
- Zigong First Peoples Hospital, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Guodong Yan
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Xi Yang
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Xiangning Bai
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Jianping Deng
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Xi Chen
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Ling Zhang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Nianli Zou
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Yanwen Xiong
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Zhengdong Zhang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China
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Arai S, Ooka T, Shibata M, Nagai Y, Tokoi Y, Nagaoka H, Maeda R, Tsuchiya A, Kojima Y, Ohya K, Ohnishi T, Konishi N, Ohtsuka K, Hara-Kudo Y. Development of a Novel Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay to Detect Escherichia albertii in Chicken Meat. Foodborne Pathog Dis 2022; 19:823-829. [PMID: 36322900 DOI: 10.1089/fpd.2022.0042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia albertii is an emerging enteropathogen. Several foodborne outbreaks of E. albertii have been reported in Japan; however, foods associated with most outbreaks remain unidentified. Therefore, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays detecting E. albertii specifically and sensitively are required. Primers and probe for real-time PCR assays targeting E. albertii-specific gene (EA-rtPCR) was designed. With 74 strains, including 43 E. albertii strains and several of its close relatives, EA-rtPCR specifically amplified E. albertii; therefore, the sensitivity of EA-rtPCR was then evaluated. The detection limits were 2.8 and 2.0-3.2 log colony-forming unit (CFU)/mL for E. albertii culture and enriched chicken culture inoculated with the pathogen, respectively. In addition, E. albertii was detected from 25 g of chicken meat inoculated with 0.1 log CFU of the pathogen by EA-rtPCR. The detection of E. albertii from chicken meat by EA-rtPCR was also evaluated by comparing with the nested-PCR assay, and 28 retail chicken meat and 193 dissected body parts from 21 chicken carcass were tested. One and three chicken meat were positive in the nested-PCR assay and EA-rtPCR, respectively. Fourteen carcasses had at least one body part that was positive for EA-rtPCR, and 36 and 48 samples were positive for the nested-PCR assay and EA-rtPCR, respectively. A total of 37 strains of E. albertii were isolated from seven PCR-positive samples obtained from six chicken carcass. All E. albertii isolates harbored eae gene, and were classified as E. albertii O-genotype (EAOg)3 or EAOg4 by EAO-genotyping. The EA-rtPCR developed in this study has potential to improve E. albertii detection in food and advance research on E. albertii infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakura Arai
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Tadasuke Ooka
- Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Mizuha Shibata
- Shizuoka City Institute of Environmental Sciences and Public Health, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Yuhki Nagai
- Division of Microbiology, Mie Prefecture Health and Environment Research Institute, Yokkaichi, Japan
| | - Yuki Tokoi
- Utsunomiya City Institute of Public Health and Environment, Utsunomiya, Japan
| | - Hiromi Nagaoka
- Shizuoka Institute of Environment and Hygiene, Fujieda, Japan
| | - Rika Maeda
- Department of Microbiology, Kumamoto Prefectural Institute of Public-Health and Environmental Science, Uto, Japan
| | - Akihiko Tsuchiya
- Life Science Division, Saitama City Institute of Health Science and Research, Saitama, Japan
| | - Yuka Kojima
- Division of Microbiology, Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Kenji Ohya
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Takahiro Ohnishi
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Noriko Konishi
- Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Yukiko Hara-Kudo
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Japan
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3
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Naka A, Hinenoya A, Awasthi SP, Yamasaki S. Isolation and characterization of Escherichia albertii from wild and safeguarded animals in Okayama Prefecture and its prefectural borders, Japan. J Vet Med Sci 2022; 84:1299-1306. [PMID: 35896346 PMCID: PMC9523302 DOI: 10.1292/jvms.22-0213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia albertii has recently been recognized as a zoonotic enteropathogen associated with food poisoning. The reservoirs and transmission routes of this bacterium to
humans are still unclear. In this study, we performed a survey of E. albertii in fecal specimens of wild and safeguarded animals in Okayama Prefecture and its prefectural
borders, Japan to understand its reservoir in the environment. Forty-two E. albertii were isolated from 10 and 31 droppings of 59 crows and 125 starlings, respectively.
Fifty-two E. albertii were isolated from 906 mammal droppings, and out of 52 isolates, origin of 33, 6 and 1 isolates were from martens, foxes, and rabbit, respectively,
however, origin of 12 isolates remained unknown. Three E. albertii were isolated from two and one feces of 159 dogs and 76 cats, respectively. Pulsed-filed gel
electrophoresis analysis grouped 97 E. albertii strains into 66 pulsotypes including 36 and 30 pulsotypes of isolates from mammals and birds, respectively. E.
albertii strains isolated in this study were genetically diverse. Although clonal relationship was not observed between mammal and bird isolates, there were intra- and
inter-species relationship in mammalian isolates. All E. albertii strains were positive for eae and Eacdt virulence genes. Furthermore, 20
and 7 strains also carried Eccdt-I and stx2f genes, respectively. Taken together, the results indicate that genetically diverse and potentially virulent
E. albertii are distributed among various wild and safeguarded animals in Okayama Prefecture, and the animals could also be reservoirs of E. albertii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsushi Naka
- Inspection Division, Okayama Prefectural Bizen Public Healthcare Center
| | - Atsushi Hinenoya
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Metropolitan University.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Metropolitan University
| | - Sharda Prasad Awasthi
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Metropolitan University.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Metropolitan University
| | - Shinji Yamasaki
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Metropolitan University.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Metropolitan University
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Muchaamba F, Barmettler K, Treier A, Houf K, Stephan R. Microbiology and Epidemiology of Escherichia albertii—An Emerging Elusive Foodborne Pathogen. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10050875. [PMID: 35630320 PMCID: PMC9145129 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10050875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Escherichia albertii, a close relative of E. coli, is an emerging zoonotic foodborne pathogen associated with watery diarrhea mainly in children and immunocompromised individuals. E. albertii was initially classified as eae-positive Hafnia alvei, however, as more genetic and biochemical information became available it was reassigned to its current novel taxonomy. Its infections are common under conditions of poor hygiene with confirmed transmission via contaminated water and food, mainly poultry-based products. This pathogen has been isolated from various domestic and wild animals, with most isolates being derived from birds, implying that birds among other wild animals might act as its reservoir. Due to the absence of standardized isolation and identification protocols, E. albertii can be misidentified as other Enterobacteriaceae. Exploiting phenotypes such as its inability to ferment rhamnose and xylose and PCR assays targeting E. albertii-specific genes such as the cytolethal distending toxin and the DNA-binding transcriptional activator of cysteine biosynthesis encoding genes can be used to accurately identify this pathogen. Several gaps exist in our knowledge of E. albertii and need to be bridged. A deeper understanding of E. albertii epidemiology and physiology is required to allow the development of effective measures to control its transmission and infections. Overall, current data suggest that E. albertii might play a more significant role in global infectious diarrhea cases than previously assumed and is often overlooked or misidentified. Therefore, simple, and efficient diagnostic tools that cover E. albertii biodiversity are required for effective isolation and identification of this elusive agent of diarrhea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francis Muchaamba
- Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; (K.B.); (A.T.); (R.S.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Karen Barmettler
- Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; (K.B.); (A.T.); (R.S.)
| | - Andrea Treier
- Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; (K.B.); (A.T.); (R.S.)
| | - Kurt Houf
- Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium;
| | - Roger Stephan
- Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; (K.B.); (A.T.); (R.S.)
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5
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Arai S, Yamaya S, Ohtsuka K, Konishi N, Obata H, Ooka T, Hirose S, Kai A, Hara-Kudo Y. Detection of Escherichia albertii in Retail Oysters. J Food Prot 2022; 85:173-179. [PMID: 34591074 DOI: 10.4315/jfp-21-222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Escherichia albertii is an emerging foodborne pathogen. Owing to its distribution in river water, it is important to determine the presence of E. albertii in aquaculture-related foods. In this study, we investigated the distribution of E. albertii in retail oyster samples. A total of 427 raw oyster samples (385 Pacific oysters and 42 Japanese rock oysters) were enriched in modified Escherichia coli broth (mEC) or mEC supplemented with novobiocin (NmEC) at 42°C. The cultures were used for E. albertii-specific nested PCR assay, as well as for E. albertii isolation using deoxycholate hydrogen sulfide lactose agar (DHL), DHL supplemented with rhamnose and xylose, and MacConkey agar supplemented with rhamnose and xylose. The population of E. albertii in nested PCR-positive samples was determined using the most-probable-number (MPN) method. E. albertii isolates were subjected to biochemical and genetic characterization. E. albertii was detected in 5 (1.6%) of 315 Pacific oyster samples (one piece each), 2 (2.9%) of 70 Pacific oyster samples (25 g each), and 2 (4.8%) of 42 Japanese rock oyster samples procured from four geographically distinct regions. A total of 64 E. albertii strains were isolated from eight of the nine nested PCR assay-positive oyster samples, and the MPN value was under the detection limit (<3 MPN/10 g). A specific season or month for detecting E. albertii was not observed in this study, suggesting that the pathogen is present in seawater. All the E. albertii isolates, except one, were positive for the virulence factor eae, indicating that these isolates have the potential to infect humans. HIGHLIGHTS
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Affiliation(s)
- Sakura Arai
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26, Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
| | - Satoko Yamaya
- Miyagi Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environment, 4-7-2, Saiwai-cho, Miyagino-ku, Sendai 983-0836, Japan
| | - Kayoko Ohtsuka
- Saitama Institute of Public Health, 410-1, Ewai, Yoshimi-machi, Hiki-gun, Saitama 355-0133, Japan
| | - Noriko Konishi
- Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, 3-24-1, Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Hiromi Obata
- Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, 3-24-1, Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Tadasuke Ooka
- Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1, Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima city, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan
| | - Shouhei Hirose
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26, Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
| | - Akemi Kai
- Japan Food Hygiene Association, 2-5-47, Tadao, Machida-city, Tokyo 194-0035, Japan
| | - Yukiko Hara-Kudo
- Division of Microbiology, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26, Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-9501, Japan
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6
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Hayashi T. [Genome analysis-based studies on bacterial genetic diversity]. Nihon Saikingaku Zasshi 2022; 77:145-160. [PMID: 36418109 DOI: 10.3412/jsb.77.145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
There are a huge number of bacterial species on earth, and a huge intra-species genomic diversity are also observed in many bacteria. The high ability of bacteria to acquire foreign DNA and the presence of various mobile genetic elements contribute the generation of such genomic diversity. During the biochemical and genetic analysis of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxin, called cytotoxin, and its converting phage, which I first engaged in my research carrier, I became very interested in the genetic diversity of bacteria and mobile genetic elements such as bacteriophages, and realized the usefulness and power of genome analysis. Since then, I have been involved in genome analyses of various pathogenic bacteria such as enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), commensal bacteria of human and other animals, and bacteria or bacterial communities in natural environments. I was so lucky that I jumped in this research field at the very begging of genome analyses and experienced a very exciting time of surprisingly rapid advance in genome sequencing technologies which revolutionized a wide range of biology. In this article, I first review the main findings which our group obtained from the genome analyses on the P. aeruginosa cytotoxin converting phage and those on the evolution and genomic diversity of EHEC and related bacteria. The results of our analyses of Rickettsiaceae family genomes, which show surprisingly very low genomic diversity, and genome sequence-based analyses of an intrahospital bacterial outbreak and within-host genomic diversity are also summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuya Hayashi
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University
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Luo L, Wang H, Payne MJ, Liang C, Bai L, Zheng H, Zhang Z, Zhang L, Zhang X, Yan G, Zou N, Chen X, Wan Z, Xiong Y, Lan R, Li Q. Comparative genomics of Chinese and international isolates of Escherichia albertii: population structure and evolution of virulence and antimicrobial resistance. Microb Genom 2021; 7. [PMID: 34882085 PMCID: PMC8767325 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia albertii is a recently recognized species in the genus Escherichia that causes diarrhoea. The population structure, genetic diversity and genomic features have not been fully examined. Here, 169 E. albertii isolates from different sources and regions in China were sequenced and combined with 312 publicly available genomes (from additional 14 countries) for genomic analyses. The E. albertii population was divided into two clades and eight lineages, with lineage 3 (L3), L5 and L8 more common in China. Clinical isolates were observed in all clades/lineages. Virulence genes were found to be distributed differently among lineages: subtypes of the intimin encoding gene eae and the cytolethal distending toxin gene cdtB were lineage associated, and the second type three secretion system (ETT2) island was truncated in L3 and L6. Seven new eae subtypes and one new cdtB subtype (cdtB-VI) were identified. Alarmingly, 85.9 % of the Chinese E. albertii isolates were predicted to be multidrug-resistant (MDR) with 35.9 % harbouring genes capable of conferring resistance to 10 to 14 different drug classes. The majority of the MDR isolates were of poultry source from China and belonged to four sequence types (STs) [ST4638, ST4479, ST4633 and ST4488]. Thirty-four plasmids with some carrying MDR and virulence genes, and 130 prophages were identified from 17 complete E. albertii genomes. The 130 intact prophages were clustered into five groups, with group five prophages harbouring more virulence genes. We further identified three E. albertii specific genes as markers for the identification of this species. Our findings provided fundamental insights into the population structure, virulence variation and drug resistance of E. albertii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijuan Luo
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hong Wang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Michael J Payne
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Chelsea Liang
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Li Bai
- Division I of Risk Assessment, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Food Safety Research Unit (2019RU014) of Chinese Academy of Medical Science, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, PR China
| | - Han Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, PR China
| | - Zhengdong Zhang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Ling Zhang
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Xiaomei Zhang
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Guodong Yan
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Nianli Zou
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Xi Chen
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Ziting Wan
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Yanwen Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, PR China
| | - Ruiting Lan
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Qun Li
- Zigong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zigong, Sichuan, PR China
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8
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Bessonov K, Laing C, Robertson J, Yong I, Ziebell K, Gannon VPJ, Nichani A, Arya G, Nash JHE, Christianson S. ECTyper: in silico Escherichia coli serotype and species prediction from raw and assembled whole-genome sequence data. Microb Genom 2021; 7. [PMID: 34860150 PMCID: PMC8767331 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli is a priority foodborne pathogen of public health concern and phenotypic serotyping provides critical information for surveillance and outbreak detection activities. Public health and food safety laboratories are increasingly adopting whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for characterizing pathogens, but it is imperative to maintain serotype designations in order to minimize disruptions to existing public health workflows. Multiple in silico tools have been developed for predicting serotypes from WGS data, including SRST2, SerotypeFinder and EToKi EBEis, but these tools were not designed with the specific requirements of diagnostic laboratories, which include: speciation, input data flexibility (fasta/fastq), quality control information and easily interpretable results. To address these specific requirements, we developed ECTyper (https://github.com/phac-nml/ecoli_serotyping) for performing both speciation within Escherichia and Shigella, and in silico serotype prediction. We compared the serotype prediction performance of each tool on a newly sequenced panel of 185 isolates with confirmed phenotypic serotype information. We found that all tools were highly concordant, with 92-97 % for O-antigens and 98-100 % for H-antigens, and ECTyper having the highest rate of concordance. We extended the benchmarking to a large panel of 6954 publicly available E. coli genomes to assess the performance of the tools on a more diverse dataset. On the public data, there was a considerable drop in concordance, with 75-91 % for O-antigens and 62-90 % for H-antigens, and ECTyper and SerotypeFinder being the most concordant. This study highlights that in silico predictions show high concordance with phenotypic serotyping results, but there are notable differences in tool performance. ECTyper provides highly accurate and sensitive in silico serotype predictions, in addition to speciation, and is designed to be easily incorporated into bioinformatic workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyrylo Bessonov
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Chad Laing
- National Centre for Animal Diseases, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Lethbridge, Canada
| | - James Robertson
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Irene Yong
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Kim Ziebell
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Victor P J Gannon
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
| | - Anil Nichani
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Gitanjali Arya
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - John H E Nash
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sara Christianson
- National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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9
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Nakae K, Ooka T, Murakami K, Hara-Kudo Y, Imuta N, Gotoh Y, Ogura Y, Hayashi T, Okamoto Y, Nishi J. Diversification of Escherichia albertii H-Antigens and Development of H-Genotyping PCR. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:737979. [PMID: 34790177 PMCID: PMC8591213 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.737979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia albertii is a recently recognized human enteropathogen that is closely related to Escherichia coli. As E. albertii sometimes causes outbreaks of gastroenteritis, rapid strain typing systems, such as the O- and H-serotyping systems widely used for E. coli, will be useful for outbreak investigation and surveillance. Although an O-genotyping system has recently been developed, the diversity of E. albertii H-antigens (flagellins) encoded by fliC genes remains to be systematically investigated, and no H-serotyping or genotyping system is currently available. Here, we analyzed the fliC genes of 243 genome-sequenced E. albertii strains and identified 73 sequence types, which were grouped into four clearly distinguishable types designated E. albertii H-genotypes 1–4 (EAHg1–EAHg4). Although there was a clear sign of intraspecies transfer of fliC genes in E. albertii, none of the four E. albertii H-genotypes (EAHgs) were closely related to any of the 53 known E. coli H-antigens, indicating the absence or rare occurrence of interspecies transfer of fliC genes between the two species. Although the analysis of more E. albertii strains will be required to confirm the low level of variation in their fliC genes, this finding suggests that E. albertii may exist in limited natural hosts or environments and/or that the flagella of E. albertii may function in a limited stage(s) in their life cycle. Based on the fliC sequences of the four EAHgs, we developed a multiplex PCR-based H-genotyping system for E. albertii (EAH-genotyping PCR), which will be useful for epidemiological studies of E. albertii infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koji Nakae
- Department of Pediatrics, Kagoshima University Hospital, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Tadasuke Ooka
- Department of Microbiology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Koichi Murakami
- Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Naoko Imuta
- Department of Microbiology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Gotoh
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Yoshitoshi Ogura
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.,Department of Infectious Medicine, Division of Microbiology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Hayashi
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Okamoto
- Department of Pediatrics, Kagoshima University Hospital, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Junichiro Nishi
- Department of Microbiology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan
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10
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Wang J, Jiao H, Zhang X, Zhang Y, Sun N, Yang Y, Wei Y, Hu B, Guo X. Two Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains Representing Novel Serotypes and Investigation of Their Roles in Adhesion. J Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 31:1191-1199. [PMID: 34261855 PMCID: PMC9705854 DOI: 10.4014/jmb.2105.05016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), which belongs to the attaching and effacing diarrheagenic E. coli strains, is a major causative agent of life-threatening diarrhea in infants in developing countries. Most EPEC isolates correspond to certain O serotypes; however, many strains are nontypeable. Two EPEC strains, EPEC001 and EPEC080, which could not be serotyped during routine detection, were isolated. In this study, we conducted an in-depth characterization of their putative O-antigen gene clusters (O-AGCs) and also performed constructed mutagenesis of the O-AGCs for functional analysis of O-antigen (OAg) synthesis. Sequence analysis revealed that the occurrence of O-AGCs in EPEC001 and E. coli O132 may be mediated by recombination between them, and EPEC080 and E. coli O2/O50 might acquire each O-AGC from uncommon ancestors. We also indicated that OAgknockout bacteria were highly adhesive in vitro, except for the EPEC001 wzy derivative, whose adherent capability was less than that of its wild-type strain, providing direct evidence that OAg plays a key role in EPEC pathogenesis. Together, we identified two EPEC O serotypes in silico and experimentally, and we also studied the adherent capabilities of their OAgs, which highlighted the fundamental and pathogenic role of OAg in EPEC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wang
- TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, 23 Hongda Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China,The Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, 23 Hongda Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China
| | - HongBo Jiao
- LanLing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 City Huibao Road, Lanling 276000, Lanling Shandong, P.R. China
| | - XinFeng Zhang
- Taian Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 33 Changcheng Road, Taian 271000, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - YuanQing Zhang
- Jinan KeJia Medical Laboratory, Inc., 800 Minghu West Road, Jinan 250001, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Na Sun
- Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 16992 City Ten Road, Jinan 250014, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Ying Yang
- Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 16992 City Ten Road, Jinan 250014, Shandong, P.R. China
| | - Yi Wei
- TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, 23 Hongda Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China,The Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, 23 Hongda Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China
| | - Bin Hu
- Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 16992 City Ten Road, Jinan 250014, Shandong, P.R. China,Corresponding authors B. Hu Phone: +86-0531-82679738 Fax: +86-531-82679750 E-mail:
| | - Xi Guo
- TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, 23 Hongda Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China,The Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, 23 Hongda Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, P.R. China,
X. Guo Phone: +86-22-66229574 Fax: +86-22-66229584 E-mail:
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11
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Hinenoya A, Awasthi SP, Yasuda N, Nagano K, Hassan J, Takehira K, Hatanaka N, Saito S, Watabe T, Yoshizawa M, Inoue H, Yamasaki S. Detection, isolation and molecular characterization of Escherichia albertii in wild birds in West Japan. Jpn J Infect Dis 2021; 75:156-163. [PMID: 34470969 DOI: 10.7883/yoken.jjid.2021.355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Escherichia albertii is an emerging zoonotic foodborne pathogen. Several outbreaks of E. albertii have occurred particularly in Japan. Although birds have been considered as one of the most important reservoirs of this bacterium, information regarding the prevalence in birds is still scanty. We performed a survey of E. albertii in wild birds in Japan, and examined characteristics of the isolates. E. albertii specific gene was detected in 5 cloacal swabs out of 156 birds by PCR. Four E. albertii were isolated from a swallow with 2 different E. albertii strains and 2 pigeons in a flock by XRM-MacConkey agar. These isolates were assigned to biogroup 3, shown no resistance to any antimicrobials tested, and classified into 2 EAO-genotypes (EAOg2 and EAOg33) and untypable. Similar to clinical E. albertii strains, these isolates carried virulence genes including eae (n=4), paa (n=4), Eccdt-I (n=2) and stx2f (n=1) in addition to Eacdt. Interestingly, stx2f genes in a strain were located on an inducible bacteriophage, which can confer the ability to produce Stx2f to E. coli. In conclusion, Japanese wild birds carried E. albertii at the similar levels to the reported prevalence in birds. These isolates may have a potential to cause gastroenteritis in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsushi Hinenoya
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | - Sharda Prasad Awasthi
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | - Noritomo Yasuda
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | - Keigo Nagano
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | - Jayedul Hassan
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | - Keiji Takehira
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | - Noritoshi Hatanaka
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
| | | | | | | | | | - Shinji Yamasaki
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.,Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
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12
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Abstract
Escherichia albertii is an emerging enteropathogen of humans and many avian species. This bacterium is a close relative of Escherichia coli and has been frequently misidentified as enteropathogenic or enterohemorrhagic E. coli due to their similarity in phenotypic and genetic features, such as various biochemical properties and the possession of a type III secretion system encoded by the locus of enterocyte effacement. This pathogen causes outbreaks of gastroenteritis, and some strains produce Shiga toxin. Although many genetic and phenotypic studies have been published and the genome sequences of more than 200 E. albertii strains are now available, the clinical significance of this species is not yet fully understood. The apparent zoonotic nature of the disease requires a deeper understanding of the transmission routes and mechanisms of E. albertii to develop effective measures to control its transmission and infection. Here, we review the current knowledge of the phylogenic relationship of E. albertii with other Escherichia species and the biochemical and genetic properties of E. albertii, with particular emphasis on the repertoire of virulence factors and the mechanisms of pathogenicity, and we hope this provides a basis for future studies of this important emerging enteropathogen.
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13
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Konno T, Takahashi S, Suzuki S, Kashio H, Ito Y, Kumagai Y. Distribution of the O-Genotypes of Escherichia albertii Isolated from Humans and Environmental Water in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Jpn J Infect Dis 2020; 74:381-384. [PMID: 33390428 DOI: 10.7883/yoken.jjid.2020.731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Takayuki Konno
- Health and Hygiene Division, Akita Prefectural Research Center for Public Health and Environment, Japan
| | - Shiho Takahashi
- Health and Hygiene Division, Akita Prefectural Research Center for Public Health and Environment, Japan
| | - Sumie Suzuki
- Health and Hygiene Division, Akita Prefectural Research Center for Public Health and Environment, Japan
| | - Hiroko Kashio
- Health and Hygiene Division, Akita Prefectural Research Center for Public Health and Environment, Japan
| | - Yuho Ito
- Health and Hygiene Division, Akita Prefectural Research Center for Public Health and Environment, Japan
| | - Yuko Kumagai
- Health and Hygiene Division, Akita Prefectural Research Center for Public Health and Environment, Japan
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14
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Romão FT, Martins FH, Hernandes RT, Ooka T, Santos FF, Yamamoto D, Bonfim-Melo A, Jones N, Hayashi T, Elias WP, Sperandio V, Gomes TAT. Genomic Properties and Temporal Analysis of the Interaction of an Invasive Escherichia albertii With Epithelial Cells. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:571088. [PMID: 33392102 PMCID: PMC7772469 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.571088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Diarrhea is one of the main causes of infant mortality worldwide, mainly in the developing world. Among the various etiologic agents, Escherichia albertii is emerging as an important human enteropathogen. E. albertii promote attaching and effacing (AE) lesions due to the presence of the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) that encodes a type three secretion system (T3SS), the afimbrial adhesin intimin and its translocated receptor, Tir, and several effector proteins. We previously showed that E. albertii strain 1551-2 invades several epithelial cell lineages by a process that is dependent on the intimin-Tir interaction. To understand the contribution of T3SS-dependent effectors present in E. albertii 1551-2 during the invasion process, we performed a genetic analysis of the LEE and non-LEE genes and evaluated the expression of the LEE operons in various stages of bacterial interaction with differentiated intestinal Caco-2 cells. The kinetics of the ability of the 1551-2 strain to colonize and form AE lesions was also investigated in epithelial HeLa cells. We showed that the LEE expression was constant during the early stages of infection but increased at least 4-fold during bacterial persistence in the intracellular compartment. An in silico analysis indicated the presence of a new tccP/espFU subtype, named tccP3. We found that the encoded protein colocalizes with Tir and polymerized F-actin during the infection process in vitro. Moreover, assays performed with Nck null cells demonstrated that the 1551-2 strain can trigger F-actin polymerization in an Nck-independent pathway, despite the fact that TccP3 is not required for this phenotype. Our study highlights the importance of the T3SS during the invasion process and for the maintenance of E. albertii 1551-2 inside the cells. In addition, this work may help to elucidate the versatility of the T3SS for AE pathogens, which are usually considered extracellular and rarely reach the intracellular environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiano T Romão
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.,Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Fernando H Martins
- Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.,Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo T Hernandes
- Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Tadasuke Ooka
- Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Fernanda F Santos
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Denise Yamamoto
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.,Universidade Santo Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alexis Bonfim-Melo
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Nina Jones
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Tetsuya Hayashi
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Waldir P Elias
- Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vanessa Sperandio
- Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Tânia A T Gomes
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil
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15
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Ikeda T, Shinagawa T, Ito T, Ohno Y, Kubo A, Nishi J, Gotoh Y, Ogura Y, Ooka T, Hayashi T. Hypoosmotic stress induces flagellar biosynthesis and swimming motility in Escherichia albertii. Commun Biol 2020; 3:87. [PMID: 32111956 PMCID: PMC7048735 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-0816-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteria use flagella as propellers to move to favorable environments. Escherichia albertii, a growing cause of foodborne illness and diarrhea, is reportedly non-motile and lacks flagella on its surface. Here, we report that 27 out of 59 E. albertii strains, collected mainly from humans and birds, showed swimming motility when cultured at low osmotic pressure. The biosynthesis of flagella in E. albertii cells was induced under ambient temperature and hypoosmotic pressure: conditions which resemble aquatic environments. Flagellar induction increased E. albertii survival in the intestinal epithelial cell culture containing gentamicin. Although genes involved in chemotaxis are not present in the E. albertii genome, the addition of glutamic acid, an amino acid known to regulate the internal cell osmolarity, augmented the proportion of swimming cells by 35-fold. These results suggest that flagellar biosynthesis and motility in E. albertii cells are controlled by their internal and external osmolarity. Ikeda et al. report that enteropathogen E. albertii, thought to be a non-motile microorganism, may form flagella and acquire swimming motility in a hypoosmotic environment and ambient temperatures. Further addition of glutamic acid, an amino acid known to regulate the internal cell osmolarity, augments the proportion of swimming cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuya Ikeda
- Hokkaido Institute of Public Health, Kita-19, Nishi-12, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan.
| | - Toshie Shinagawa
- Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, Nozaki Tokushukai Hospital Research Institute, 2-10-50 Tanigawa, Daito, 574-0074, Japan
| | - Takuya Ito
- Hokkaido Institute of Public Health, Kita-19, Nishi-12, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan
| | - Yuta Ohno
- Hokkaido Institute of Public Health, Kita-19, Nishi-12, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan
| | - Akiko Kubo
- Hokkaido Institute of Public Health, Kita-19, Nishi-12, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan
| | - Junichiro Nishi
- Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, 890-8544, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Gotoh
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan
| | - Yoshitoshi Ogura
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan
| | - Tadasuke Ooka
- Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, 890-8544, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Hayashi
- Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan
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