Migration Rates on Swim Plates Vary between Escherichia coli Soil Isolates: Differences Are Associated with Variants in Metabolic Genes.

ABSTRACT: This study investigates migration phenotypes of 265 Escherichia coli soil isolates from the Buffalo River basin in Minnesota, USA. Migration rates on semisolid tryptone swim plates ranged from nonmotile to 190% of the migration rate of a highly motile E. coli K-12 strain. The nonmotile isolate, LGE0550, had mutations in flagellar and chemotaxis genes, including two IS3 elements in the flagellin-encoding gene fliC. A genome-wide association study (GWAS), associating the migration rates with genetic variants in specific genes, yielded two metabolic variants (rygD-serA and metR-metE) with previous implications in chemotaxis. As a novel way of confirming GWAS results, we used minimal medium swim plates to confirm the associations. Other variants in met

SUBMITTER: Pruß BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9972950 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature