Genomic O island 122, locus for enterocyte effacement, and the evolution of virulent verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) and genomic O island 122 (OI-122) are pathogenicity islands in verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) serotypes that are associated with outbreaks and serious disease. Composed of three modules, OI-122 may occur as "complete" (with all three modules) or "incomplete" (with one or two modules) in different strains. OI-122 encodes two non-LEE effector (Nle) molecules that are secreted by the LEE type III secretion system, and LEE and OI-122 are cointegrated in some VTEC strains. Thus, they are functionally linked, but little is known about the patterns of acquisition of these codependent islands. To examine this, we conducted a population genetics analysis, using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), with 72 VTEC strains (classified into seropath

SUBMITTER: Konczy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2519529 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature