The cloned locus of enterocyte effacement from enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 is unable to confer the attaching and effacing phenotype upon E. coli K-12.
The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 possesses the same genes in identical order and orientation as the LEE of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) O127:H6 but is unable to form attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions or to secrete Esp proteins when it is cloned in an E. coli K-12 background. The A/E phenotype could not be restored by trans complementation with a variety of cloned EPEC LEE fragments, suggesting functional and/or regulatory differences between the LEE pathogenicity islands of EPEC O127:H6 and EHEC O157:H7.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
S J
SJ
Elliott
J
J
Yu
J B
JB
Kaper
D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*