title: Identification of regions of the Escherichia coli chromosome specific for neonatal meningitis-associated strains.
abstract: Specific virulence factors associated with the pathogenesis of Escherichia coli strains causing neonatal meningitis (ECNM), such as the K1 capsular polysaccharide, the S fimbriae, and the Ibe10 protein, have been previously identified. However, some other yet unidentified factors are likely to be involved in the pathogenesis of ECNM. To identify specialized unique DNA regions associated with ECNM virulence, we used the representational difference analysis technique. The genomes of two strains belonging to nonpathogenic phylogenetic group A of the ECOR reference collection were subtracted from E. coli strain C5, isolated from a case of neonatal meningitis. Strain C5 belongs to the phylogenetic group B2 as do the majority of ECNM. We have isolated and mapped 64 DNA fragments which are specific for strain C5 and not found in nonpathogenic strains. Of these clones, 44 were clustered in six distinct regions on the chromosome. The sfa and ibe10 genes were located in regions 2 and 6, respectively. A group of genes (cnf1, hra, hly, and prs) known to be present in a pathogenicity island of the uropathogenic strain E. coli J96 colocalized with region 6. The occurrence of these DNA regions was tested in a set of meningitis-associated strains and in a control group composed of non-meningitis-associated strains belonging to the same B2 group. Regions 1, 3, and 4 were present in 91, 82, and 81%, respectively, of the meningitis strains and in 40, 13, and 47% of the control strains. Together, these data suggest that regions 1, 3, and 4 code for factors associated with the ability of E. coli to invade the meninges of neonates.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Etudes de Génétique Bactérienne dans les Infections de l'Enfant (EA 3105), Université Denis Diderot-Paris 7, Hôpital Robert Debré, 75395 Paris cedex 19, France.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Bonacorsi
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Clermont
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tinsley
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Le Gall
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beaudoin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Elion
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nassif
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bingen
mesh_terms: D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D015723:Gene Library; D008581:Meningitis / Q000151:congenital* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D013045:Species Specificity; D014774:Virulence