The Ferric Citrate Uptake System Encoded in a Novel bla _CTX-M-3- and bla _TEM-1-Harboring Conjugative Plasmid Contributes to the Virulence of Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Escherichia coli is one major cause of bacterial infections and can horizontally acquire antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes through conjugation. Because conjugative plasmids can rapidly spread among bacteria of different species, the plasmids carrying both antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes may pose a significant threat to public health. Therefore, the identification and characterization of these plasmids may facilitate a better understanding of E. coli pathogenesis and the development of new strategies against E. coli infections. Because iron uptake ability is a potential virulence trait of bacteria, we screened for E. coli conjugative plasmids able to confer both iron uptake ability and ampicillin resistance. The plasmid pEC41, which was de

SUBMITTER: Huang WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8187952 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature