Expression of type I pili is abolished in verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157.
Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) were examined for production of type I pili. None of 34 strains of VTEC serogroup O157 examined expressed any pili, whereas 26 strains of 27 VTEC serogroup O26 and seven strains of nine non-VTEC O157 produced type I pili. These VTEC strains were collected from sporadic human cases and cattle in Okinawa in 1997. The genes encoding the major structural component (FimA) and the adhesin (FimH) of type I pili were detected in all 70 strains examined. The inability to express type I pili could be a unique character of VTEC O157 and this trait could be a new candidate to identify the organisms.
Enami
M
M
Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, 207 Uehara, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan.
Nakasone
N
N
Honma
Y
Y
Kakinohana
S
S
Kudaka
J
J
Iwanaga
M
M
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D002417:Cattle; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D022622:Shiga Toxin 1
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D022622:Shiga Toxin 1; C073819:eaeA protein, E coli