title: Predominance of the papGII allele with high sequence homology to that of human isolates among avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC).
abstract: Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) are often found in poultry and are responsible for a set of diseases, commonly referred to as avian colibacillosis. One of the important virulence factors is adhesion to different epithelial surfaces, which is mediated by pili. P pili are thought to play a role by means of their PapG adhesin, which occurs in three molecular variants: PapGI, PapGII and PapGIII. This study is the first to determine and analyse the distribution of the different papG alleles in APEC. Our results show a significant predominance of the papGII allele above all other alleles or allele combinations. No statistically significant associations could be found between papG allele distribution and the type of bird, organ of isolation and O serogroup. Finally, the papGII and papGIII sequences showed high homology with mammalian (including human) source papG sequences.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physiology and Immunology of Domestic Animals, Catholic University Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. frederic.vandemaele@agr.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: Fréderic J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Vandemaele
authors.forename: Joseph Pascal
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mugasa
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vandekerchove
authors.forename: Bruno Maria
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Goddeeris
mesh_terms: D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011200:Poultry / Q000382:microbiology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli; C092426:PapG protein, E coli; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins