title: Distribution of serine protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae in typical and atypical enteroaggregative Escherichia coli.
abstract: Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is an agent of acute and persistent diarrhea worldwide, categorized in typical or atypical subgroups. Some EAEC virulence factors are members of the serine protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae (SPATE). The presence of SPATE-encoding genes of different E. coli pathotypes was searched in a large collection of EAEC strains, and a possible association between SPATEs and E. coli phylogroups was investigated. Among 108 typical and 85 atypical EAEC, pic was the most prevalent gene, detected in 47.1% of the strains, followed by sat (24.3%), espI (21.2%), pet (19.2%), sepA (13.5%), sigA (4.1%), eatA (4.1%), vat (1.0%), espP and tsh, detected in one strain (0.5%) each; while epeA and espC were not detected. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that 39.9% of the strains belonged to group A, 23.3% to B1, 10.9% to B2, 7.8% to D, 8.8% to E and 1.5% to F. The majority of the SPATE genes were distributed in typical and atypical strains without association with any phylogroup. In addition, pic and pet were strongly associated with typical EAEC and sepA was detected in close association with atypical EAEC. Our data indicate that SPATEs may represent important virulence traits in both subgroups of EAEC.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Parasitária, Universidade CEUMA, São Luís, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, Brazil.
authors.forename: Afonso G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kamila O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tânia A T
authors.initials: TAT
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roxane M F
authors.initials: RMF
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: waldir.elias@butantan.gov.br.
authors.forename: Waldir P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Elias
mesh_terms: D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018830:Adhesins, Escherichia coli; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D012808:Sigma Factor; D037521:Virulence Factors; C506813:secreted autotransporter toxin, E coli; C112027:tsh protein, E coli; C000605763:vacuolating autotransporter toxin, E coli; C483578:EatA protein, E coli; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; C570452:SepA protein, E coli; C107189:EspP protein, E coli; C530786:Pet protein, E coli; C541114:Pic protein, E coli; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases
keywords: Autotransporters; Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli; SPATE; Virulence factors