Analysis of the genome and virulence potential of a uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strain carrying diarrheogenic E. coli (DEC) markers

• Grant number: 17/21947-7
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Cooperation agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal researcher: Tânia Aparecida Tardelli Gomes do Amaral
• Grantee: Tiago Barcelos Valiatti
• Home Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Escherichia coli is a gram-negative bacillus that can be classified into commensal strains and disease-causing strains. Diarrheogenic E. coli (DEC) are classified in five distinct pathotypes. One of these pathotypes, denominated enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), has two subdivisions, which are based on the presence (typical EPEC) or absence (atypical EPEC) of the EAF (EPEC adherence factor) plasmid. Typical and atypical EPEC have the capacity to produce attaching / effacing lesions in epithelial cells. Regarding the extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC), they comprise a group of strains capable of causing signs and symptoms in the host outside the intestine, such as in the urinary tract (UPEC) and in the bloodstream (SEPEC), or even causing meningitis/sepsis (MNEC) due to the presence of virulence factors related to colonization and survival at these sites. It is known that strains of E. coli have a certain facility in making changes in genetic material that encode several virulence factors, however, little is known about the presence of virulence genes of the DEC pathotypes in UPEC strains. Nevertheless, in our previous study, our group identified the presence of the eae gene in a strain of UPEC (UPEC 252). This gene encodes the adhesin intimin, which is essential for the establishment of A / E lesions by EPEC strains. This finding led us to the hypothesis that UPEC 252 can promote both intestinal and extraintestinal infections. In this study, we intend to characterize the genome and the pathogenic potential of the UPEC 252 strain. For that, we will perform the sequencing of the total genome as well as its in silico analysis in order to identify its viruloma (virulence gene set) and its possible phylogenetic relationship with established UPEC groups. The analysis of the plasmid profile, after extraction by alkaline lysis, and the construction of an isogenic intimin mutant strain by employing the Lambda Red recombineering system will also be performed. The ability of UPEC 252 to interact (adhesion, invasion) and promote modifications and alterations of the cytoskeleton in intestinal and extraintestinal tract cell lines, to resist the bactericidal power of the serum and to form biofilm will be determined by phenotypic assays. The contribution of the intimin production in the different phenotypic properties identified will be evaluated by analysing the behaviour of the mutant strain in the same assays. It is believed that the characterization of UPEC 252 may contribute to a greater understanding of its potential in causing infections both in the urinary tract and in the intestinal tract. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VALIATTI, TIAGO B.; SANTOS, FERNANDA F.; SANTOS, ANA C. M.; NASCIMENTO, JULLIA A. S.; SILVA, ROSA M.; CARVALHO, ENEAS; SINIGAGLIA, RITA; GOMES, TANIA A. T. Genetic and Virulence Characteristics of a Hybrid Atypical Enteropathogenic and UropathogenicEscherichia coli(aEPEC/UPEC) Strain. FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY, v. 10, SEP 29 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.

SANTOS, ANA CAROLINA M.; SILVA, ROSA M.; VALIATTI, TIAGO B.; SANTOS, FERNANDA E.; SANTOS-NETO, JOSE E.; CAYO, RODRIGO; STRELING, ANA P.; NODARI, CAROLINA S.; GALES, ANA C.; NISHIYAMA-JR, MILTON Y.; CARVALHO, ENEAS; GOMES, TANIA A. T. Virulence Potential of a Multidrug-ResistantEscherichia coliStrain Belonging to the Emerging Clonal Group ST101-B1 Isolated from Bloodstream Infection. MICROORGANISMS, v. 8, n. 6 JUN 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.

VALIATTI, TIAGO BARCELOS; SANTOS, FERNANDA FERNANDES; DE MELLO SANTOS, ANA CAROLINA; SILVA, ROSA MARIA; CARVALHO, ENEAS; TARDELLI GOMES, TANIA APARECIDA. Draft Whole-Genome Sequence of a Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Strain Carrying the eae Gene. MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS, v. 8, n. 43 OCT 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.