Phylogenetic Background and Virulence-Associated Traits of Escherichia coli Obtained from Surface Waters and Diverse Animals in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Phylogenetic Background and Virulence-Associated Traits of Escherichia coli Obtained from Surface Waters and Diverse Animals in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2017 Oct 06;: Authors: Johnson JR, Johnston BD, Delavari P, Thuras P, Clabots C, Sadowsky MJ Abstract Possible external reservoirs for extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) strains that cause infections in humans are poorly defined. Because of the tremendous human health importance of ExPEC infections, we assessed surface waters and domesticated and wild animals in Minnesota and Wisconsin as potential reservoirs of ExPEC of human health relevance. We characterized 595 E. coli isolates (obtained from 1999-2002; 280 from seven surface water sites, 315 from feces of 13 wild and domesticated animal species) for phylogroup and virulence genotype, including inferred ExPEC status, by using multiplex PCR-based methods. We also compared the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles of the isolates with a large private PFGE profile library. We found a predominance of non-ExPEC strains (95% and 93%, among water and animal isolates, respectively), which were mainly from phylogroups A and B1, plus a minority of ExPEC strains (5% and 7% among water isolates and animal isolates, respectively), predominantly from phylogroup B2. The ExPEC strains, although significantly associated with cats, dogs, and turkeys, occurred in several additional animal species ...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research