Invasin <italic>gimB</italic> found in a bovine intestinal <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> with an adherent and invasive profile

Abstract

The invasin gimB (genetic island associated with human newborn meningitis) is usually found in ExPEC (Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli) such as UPEC (uropathogenic E. coli), NMEC (neonatal meningitis E. coli) and APEC (avian pathogenic E. coli). In NMEC, gimB is associated with the invasion process of the host cells. Due to the importance of E. coli as a zoonotic agent and the scarce information about the frequency of gimB-carrying strains in different animal species, the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of gimB in isolates from bovine, swine, canine and feline clinical samples. PCR was conducted on 196 isolates and the identity of the amplicons was confirmed by sequencing. Of the samples tested, only E. coli SB278/94 from a bovine specimen was positive (1/47) for gimB, which represents 2.1% of the bovine isolates. The ability of SB278/94 to adhere to and invade eukaryotic cells was confirmed by adherence and gentamicin-protection assays using HeLa cells. This is the first study that investigates for gimB in bovine, canine and feline E. coli isolates and shows E. coli from the intestinal-bovine samples harboring gimB.

Whole genome sequence analysis of Australian avian pathogenic Escherichia coli that carry the class 1 integrase gene

“…Our APEC collection included 8/95 isolates belonging to ST95 and there were three different serotype profiles among them. These isolates had the highest level of carriage of extraintestinal VAGs; all carried iroN , iss , kpsMT ( II ), iucD , ompT , papGII , neuC and usp , while the gene encoding the vacuolated autotransporter toxin Vat and gimB , a marker of the genetic island linked to neonatal meningitis E. coli [ 21 ] and a capacity to invade cells [ 69 ], were carried by 6/8 of these isolates. ST95 is well documented in the literature as an APEC lineage that also frequently appears as a causative agent of UTIs and blood sepsis in humans [ 56, 70, 71 ].…”

FNR Regulates the Expression of Important Virulence Factors Contributing to the Pathogenicity of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli

“…Cell adherence and invasion assays were performed as previously described (Vigil et al, 2012 ). HeLa (epithelial cells; de Pace et al, 2010 ; Stacy et al, 2014 ; Matter et al, 2015 ; Verma et al, 2015 ) and J774 (murine macrophages; Bastiani et al, 2005 ) cells, rather than avian origin cells, were used in these studies because they are well-known for their utility in adherence and invasion assays in APEC studies (Vigil et al, 2012 ). The cell lines were cultured in DMEM Medium (GIBCO) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS; GIBCO), at 37°C and 5% CO 2 .…”