title: Isolation and characterization of intestinal Escherichia coli clones from wild boars in Germany.
abstract: Our understanding of the composition of Escherichia coli populations in wild boars is very limited. In order to obtain insight into the E. coli microflora of wild boars, we studied E. coli isolates from the jejunums, ileums, and colons of 21 wild boars hunted in five geographic locations in Germany. Ten isolates per section were subjected to clonal determination using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. One representative isolate per clone was further investigated for virulence traits, phylogenetic affiliation, and antimicrobial susceptibility. Macrorestriction analysis of 620 isolates revealed a range of clone diversity among the sections and animals, with up to 9 and 16 different clones per section and animal, respectively. Most of the clones for a given animal were shared between two adjacent intestinal sections. The overall highest clonal diversity was observed within the colon. While the astA gene was present in a large number of clones, other virulence genes and hemolytic ability were detected only sporadically. Clones of all four ECOR groups dominated the intestinal sections. Phylogenetic analysis and the occurrence of virulence genes correlated with the isolation frequencies for clones. All E. coli clones from wild boars were susceptible to all antimicrobial agents tested. In conclusion, though several parameters (including an animal-specific and highly diverse E. coli clone composition, the simultaneous occurrence of single clones in two adjacent intestinal sections of a given animal, and a higher E. coli diversity in the large intestine than in the small intestine) of E. coli populations of wild boars were similar to those of previously described E. coli populations of conventionally reared domestic pigs, our data also indicate possible differences, as seen for the E. coli diversity in the large intestine, the occurrence of certain virulence genes and phylogenetic groups, and antimicrobial susceptibilities.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Mikrobiologie und Tierseuchen, Fachbereich Veterinärmedizin, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. pschiera@fh-lausitz.de
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schierack
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Römer
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jores
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaspar
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guenther
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Filter
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eichberg
authors.forename: Lothar H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wieler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany; D007082:Ileum / Q000382:microbiology*; D007583:Jejunum / Q000382:microbiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000382:microbiology*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors