Genetic and phenotypic analysis of the virulence plasmid of a non-Shigatoxigenic enteroaggregative <i>Escherichia coli</i> O104:H4 outbreak strain.

ABSTRACT: Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli O104:H4 is best known for causing a worldwide outbreak in 2011 due to the acquisition of a Shiga-like toxin alongside traditional enteroaggregative virulence traits; however, whilst the 2011 outbreak strain has been well studied, the virulence plasmid of O104:H4 has been subjected to far less experimental analysis. In this paper, we analyse the genetic and phenotypic contribution of the pAA virulence plasmid to a non-Shigatoxigenic O104:H4 strain (1070/13) that was nonetheless implicated in a substantial UK outbreak in 2013. We find that pAA₁₀₇₀ is 99.95% identical across 88% of the plasmid sequence to pTY2 from the 2011 outbreak strain and has a copy number of ~2-3 plasmid molecules per chromosome. We demonstrate that pAA₁₀₇₀

SUBMITTER: Whelan R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11950199 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature