Cytolethal distending toxin type I and type IV genes are framed with lambdoid prophage genes in extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Five types of cytolethal distending toxin (CDT-I to CDT-V) have been identified in Escherichia coli. In the present study we cloned and sequenced the cdt-IV operon and flanking region from a porcine extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) strain belonging to serogroup O75. We confirmed that similar to other CDTs, CDT-IV induced phosphorylation of host histone H2AX, a sensitive marker of DNA double-strand breaks, and blocked the HeLa cell cycle at the G(2)-M transition. The cdt-IV genes were framed by lambdoid prophage genes. We cloned and sequenced the cdt-I operon and flanking regions from a human ExPEC O18:K1:H7 strain and observed that cdt-I genes were also flanked by lambdoid prophage genes. PCR studies indicated that a gene coding for a putative protease was always associated with

SUBMITTER: Toth I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2612248 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature