Identification of a New Virulent Clade in Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O26:H11/H- Sequence Type 29.

ABSTRACT: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O26 infections cause severe human diseases such as hemolytic uremic syndrome and encephalopathy, and is the predominant serogroup among non-O157 EHEC in many countries. Shiga toxin (Stx), which consists of two distinct types (Stx1 and Stx2), plays a central role in EHEC pathogenesis. The major stx gene type in EHEC O26 strains is stx1, although isolates with only stx2 have emerged in Japan since 2012 and have been reported in Europe. In this study, we selected 27 EHEC O26 strains isolated in Japan and identified a distinct genetic clade within sequence type (ST) 29, designated ST29C1, that carried only stx2 and had the plasmid gene profile ehxA+/katP-/espP+/etpD-. We showed that ST29C1 strains produced higher Stx2a levels, and greater virulence in

SUBMITTER: Ishijima N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5322567 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature