Molecular epidemiologic identification of Escherichia coli genes that are potentially involved in movement of the organism from the intestinal tract to the vagina and bladder.

ABSTRACT: A first step in urinary tract infection (UTI) pathogenesis in the otherwise healthy host is the movement of uropathogenic Escherichia coli from the intestinal tract to the urinary tract. We conducted a genomic subtraction to isolate genetic regions associated with this movement. A representative UTI isolate present in the rectum, vagina, and bladder of a woman with UTI was chosen as the tester; the driver was a phylogenetically distant rectal isolate (based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis) with a profile of uropathogenic virulence genes similar to that of the tester. Tester-specific regions identified by the subtraction were screened, using DNA dot blot hybridization, against a collection of 88 uropathogens isolated from the rectum, urine, and/or vagina of women with UTIs and

SUBMITTER: Xie J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1489509 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature