Open AccessThe long polar fimbriae operon and its flanking regions in bovine E scherichia coli O 157: H 43 and STEC O 136: H 12 strains
Author(s) -
Sváb Domonkos,
Galli Lucia,
Horváth Balázs,
Maróti Gergely,
Dobrindt Ulrich,
Torres Alfredo G.,
Rivas Marta,
Tóth István
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pathogens and disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.983
H-Index - 105
ISSN - 2049-632X
DOI - 10.1111/2049-632x.12038
Subject(s) - operon , escherichia coli , biology , bacterial adhesin , microbiology and biotechnology , fimbria , virulence , shiga toxin , intimin , genetics , enterobacteriaceae , nucleic acid sequence , gene
Long polar fimbriae ( L pf) are intestinal adhesins and important virulence factors of pathogenic E scherichia coli strains. We cloned and sequenced the lpf2‐1 operon ( lpf2ABCD ) and its flanking regions of an intimin‐ and Shiga toxin‐negative atypical E . coli O 157: H 43 strain of bovine origin and also sequenced the lpf2‐1 operon of six additional atypical O 157 bovine E . coli strains of various serotypes. Nucleotide sequence comparison of these lpf operons showed sequence conservation as they contained only four polymorphic nucleotide positions. Investigation of these O 157 strains as well as 13 E . coli Reference Collection ( ECOR ) strains carrying the lpf2‐1 allele revealed high degree of sequence conservation in the lpf2 flanking regions. The lpf2‐1 allele is also present in a bovine Shiga toxin‐producing E . coli STEC O 136: H 12 strain, and in vitro adherence assays revealed that the absence of lpf2‐1 in this strain did not affect its host cell‐binding properties. Our data indicate that lpf2 loci are highly conserved in E . coli isolates; however, its role in adherence might be masked by other uncharacterized adhesins.