Adaptation of Escherichia coli traversing from the faecal environment to the urinary tract.

ABSTRACT: The majority of extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) causing urinary tract infections (UTI) are found in the patient's own gut flora, but only limited knowledge is available on the potential adaptation that may occur in the bacteria in order to traverse the perineum and successfully infect the urinary tract. Here, matching pairs of faecal and UTI isolates from 42 patients were compared pairwise using in-depth whole-genome sequencing to investigate whether genetic changes were evident for successful colonization in these two different environments. The identified non-synonymous mutations (0-12 substitutions in each pair) were primarily associated to genes encoding virulence factors and nutrient metabolism; and indications of parallel evolution were observed in genes encoding

SUBMITTER: Nielsen KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5209455 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature