Hypo-osmotic stress is an anticipatory trigger of heat-resistance in presumptive extraintestinal pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> isolated from treated sewage.

ABSTRACT: Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) are responsible for a variety of human infections (urinary tract infections, septicemia, meningitis) and can be routinely isolated from treated sewage. However, the phenotypic properties mediating treatment resistance in ExPEC remain elusive. Herein, we examined heat-resistance in presumptive wastewater ExPEC (W-ExPEC) surviving sewage chlorination or full-scale wastewater treatment. Interestingly, heat-resistance in W-ExPEC was triggered by exposure to hypo-osmotic conditions (i.e., sterile distilled water), resulting in a 10- to 1,000-fold increase in heat-resistance compared to cells exposed to iso-osmotic conditions (i.e., phosphate buffered saline). Remarkably, hypo-osmotic induction of heat resistance occurred extremely fast,

SUBMITTER: Ryu K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12540446 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature