Fim operon variation in the emergence of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli: an evolutionary and functional analysis.
Fim operons were examined to illuminate the emergence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from the less-virulent E. coli O55:H7. A fim invertible element deletion occurred only after O157:H7 descended from O55:H7, and after sorbitol nonfermenting O157 diverged. Type 1 pili nonexpression correlates with this deletion in all enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) tested. An N135K FimH mutation in the two most evolved O157:H7 clusters is not found in other EHEC. These data refine the evolutionary history of an emerging pathogen.
Shaikh
Nurmohammad
N
Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Holt
Nicholas J
NJ
Johnson
James R
JR
Tarr
Phillip I
PI
D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009876:Operon; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017384:Sequence Deletion
D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C058769:fimH protein, E coli; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins