Publikationsdatenbank

Sialic acid catabolism is an important colonisation factor for Escherichia coli, based on bacterial genome-wide association study (2021)

Art

Vortrag

Autoren

van der Putten, Boas

Boas, C. L.

Tiwari, Sumeet K.

Vinh, Trung N.

Bootsma, Martin

Oldenkamp, Rik

La Ragione, Roberto

Metamoros, Sebastien

Hoa, Ngo T.

Berens, Christian

Leng, Joy

Álvarez, Julio

Ferrandis-Vila, Marta

Ritchie, Jenny

Fruth, Angelika

Schwarz, Stefan (WE 7)

Domínguez, Lucas

Ugarte-Ruiz, María

Bethe, Astrid (WE 7)

Huber, C.

Johanns, V.

Stamm, I.

Wieler, Lothar H. (WE 7)

Ewers, C.

Fivian-Hughes, Amanda

Fuchs, Thilo

Menge, Christian

Semmler, Torsten

Schultsz, Constance

Kongress

Scientific Spring meeting KNVM & NVMM 2021

online, 30. – 31.03.2021

Quelle

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://congresscare.eventsair.com/scientific-spring-meeting-knvm-nvmm2021/programme

Kontakt

Institut für Mikrobiologie und Tierseuchen

Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 51843 / 66949
mikrobiologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Introduction:
Escherichia coli is an opportunistic pathogen which can colonise or infect various host species. However, it remains unclear whether lineages of E. coli preferably colonize certain hosts, and which genomic determinants may contribute to conferring narrow or broad host ranges.

Methods:
1198 E. coli strains from different hosts (including healthy and diseased cattle, chicken, pigs, wild-boars and humans) and geographical locations (Germany, Spain, UK, and Vietnam), isolated between 2003 and 2018 were randomly selected from existing strain collections for Illumina whole-genome sequencing. Host-associated lineages were identified using Bugwas and interpreted based on phylogroups or sequence types (STs). Genes associated with host specificity were identified through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using PySEER.

Results:
Host-associated lineages were identified for all host species, such as phylogroup B1 for cattle, phylogroup A for pigs, ST95 and ST117 for chickens and ST131 for human hosts. The GWAS identified genes associated with human, chicken and cattle colonisation, but not pig colonisation. Interestingly, we identified a cluster of nine contiguous human-associated genes annotated with sialic acid (Sia) catabolism functions. This Sia gene cluster was predominantly present in extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) lineages ST131, ST73 and ST69. Deletion of this gene cluster in an ST131 strain led to impaired growth when only sialic acid (Neu5Ac) or mucus (containing various sialic acids) were available as carbon source, with no growth impairment when cultured in standard LB medium.

Conclusion:
We identified lineages and genes associated with the colonisation of pig, cattle, chicken and human hosts. Among the latter, a previously unknown sialic acid catabolism gene cluster, strongly associated with human colonisation and mainly found in ExPEC lineages, was characterised. Wet-lab experiments confirmed the sialic acid catabolic function of this gene cluster and further characterisation is underway. In conclusion, our findings provide insight into lineage-associated genomic determinants of host specificity in E. coli, which will aid in risk assessment of potential onward transmission of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant E. coli across host species.