Distribution, functional expression, and genetic organization of Cif, a phage-encoded type III-secreted effector from enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) inject effector proteins into host cells via a type III secretion system encoded by the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE). One of these effectors is Cif, encoded outside the LEE by a lambdoid prophage. In this study, we demonstrated that the Cif-encoding prophage of EPEC strain E22 is inducible and produces infectious phage particles. We investigated the distribution and functional expression of Cif in 5,049 E. coli strains of human, animal, and environmental origins. A total of 115 E. coli isolates from diverse origins and geographic locations carried cif. The presence of cif was tightly associated with the LEE, since all the cif-positive isolates were positive for the LEE. These results suggested that the Ci

SUBMITTER: Loukiadis E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2223761 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature