Metagenomic Sequencing with Strain-Level Resolution Implicates Uropathogenic E. coli in Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Mortality in Preterm Infants.

ABSTRACT: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) afflicts approximately 10% of extremely preterm infants with high fatality. Inappropriate bacterial colonization with Enterobacteriaceae is implicated, but no specific pathogen has been identified. We identify uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) colonization as a significant risk factor for the development of NEC and subsequent mortality. We describe a large-scale deep shotgun metagenomic sequence analysis of the early intestinal microbiome of 144 preterm and 22 term infants. Using a pan-genomic approach to functionally subtype the E. coli, we identify genes associated with NEC and mortality that indicate colonization by UPEC. Metagenomic multilocus sequence typing analysis further defined NEC-associated strains as sequence types often associated with urinary tract

SUBMITTER: Ward DV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4819403 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature