Core elements of the vegetative replication control of the Inc1 plasmid pO104_90 of Escherichia coli O104:H4 also regulate its transfer frequency.

Core elements of the vegetative replication control of the Inc1 plasmid pO104_90 of Escherichia coli O104:H4 also regulate its transfer frequency. Int J Med Microbiol. 2018 Jul 18;: Authors: Berger M, Berger P, Denamur E, Mellmann A, Dobrindt U Abstract The highly virulent Escherichia coli O104:H4 isolate that caused a large outbreak in 2011 carries three plasmids. Out of these, only one, the IncI plasmid pO104_90 that encodes two extended spectrum beta-lactamases, can transfer itself by conjugation. Considering its potential contribution to the emergence and virulence of the outbreak strain, we aimed to get a closer insight into pO104_90 transfer efficiency and control. We tested the host spectrum of the plasmid and observed transmission into Enterobactericeae including clinically relevant enterobacterial pathogens like Salmonella typhimurium and Shigella flexneri. However, we found that this plasmid did not transfer into E. coli strains that kill the donor strain due to bacteriocin production, e.g. the probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917. Under the same conditions, the highly transmittable control plasmid RP4 was efficiently transferred into all these recipients. Therefore we hypothesized that the failure of transfer of pO104_90 was simply due to the generally much lower transmission rates of this IncI plasmid and we decided to screen for factors that negatively affect the transfer of the plasmid by an in vivo deletion analysis. Our atte...
Source: International Journal of Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Int J Med Microbiol Source Type: research