Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Escherichia coli encoding colibactin (clb), cytolethal distending toxin (cdt), and hemolysin-associated cytotoxic necrotizing factor (cnf) are associated with various intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases in humans and animals. Small mammal pets are not evaluated for genotoxi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier BV
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136558 |
| _version_ | 1826205055173263360 |
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| author | Fabian, Niora J Mannion, Anthony J Feng, Yan Madden, Carolyn M Fox, James G |
| author_facet | Fabian, Niora J Mannion, Anthony J Feng, Yan Madden, Carolyn M Fox, James G |
| author_sort | Fabian, Niora J |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 2019 Elsevier B.V. Escherichia coli encoding colibactin (clb), cytolethal distending toxin (cdt), and hemolysin-associated cytotoxic necrotizing factor (cnf) are associated with various intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases in humans and animals. Small mammal pets are not evaluated for genotoxin-encoding E. coli. Thus, the prevalence of such strains is unknown. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize genotoxin-encoding E. coli from healthy and ill small mammal pets examined at a veterinary clinic and at two animal adoption centers. E. coli isolates were cultured from fecal samples and biochemically characterized. A total of 65 animals, including mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and hedgehogs, were screened. Twenty-six E. coli isolates were obtained from 24 animals. Twelve of the 26 isolates (46.2 %) were PCR-positive for the pks genes clbA and clbQ. Two isolates (7.7 %) were PCR-positive for cnf. All isolates were PCR-negative for cdt. All genotoxin-encoding isolates belonged to the pathogen-associated phylogenetic group B2. Representative genotoxin-encoding isolates had serotypes previously associated with clinical disease in humans and animals. Isolates encoding pks or cnf induced megalocytosis and cytotoxicity to HeLa cells in vitro. Although most isolates were obtained from healthy pets, two guinea pigs with diarrhea had pks-positive isolates cultured from their feces. Whole genome sequencing on four representative isolates confirmed the presence of pks and cnf genes and identified other virulence factors associated with pathogenicity in animals and humans. Our results suggest that small mammalian pets may serve as a reservoir for potentially pathogenic E. coli and implicate a zoonotic risk. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:06:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/136558 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:06:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV |
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| spelling | mit-1721.1/1365582021-10-28T03:56:43Z Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets Fabian, Niora J Mannion, Anthony J Feng, Yan Madden, Carolyn M Fox, James G © 2019 Elsevier B.V. Escherichia coli encoding colibactin (clb), cytolethal distending toxin (cdt), and hemolysin-associated cytotoxic necrotizing factor (cnf) are associated with various intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases in humans and animals. Small mammal pets are not evaluated for genotoxin-encoding E. coli. Thus, the prevalence of such strains is unknown. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize genotoxin-encoding E. coli from healthy and ill small mammal pets examined at a veterinary clinic and at two animal adoption centers. E. coli isolates were cultured from fecal samples and biochemically characterized. A total of 65 animals, including mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and hedgehogs, were screened. Twenty-six E. coli isolates were obtained from 24 animals. Twelve of the 26 isolates (46.2 %) were PCR-positive for the pks genes clbA and clbQ. Two isolates (7.7 %) were PCR-positive for cnf. All isolates were PCR-negative for cdt. All genotoxin-encoding isolates belonged to the pathogen-associated phylogenetic group B2. Representative genotoxin-encoding isolates had serotypes previously associated with clinical disease in humans and animals. Isolates encoding pks or cnf induced megalocytosis and cytotoxicity to HeLa cells in vitro. Although most isolates were obtained from healthy pets, two guinea pigs with diarrhea had pks-positive isolates cultured from their feces. Whole genome sequencing on four representative isolates confirmed the presence of pks and cnf genes and identified other virulence factors associated with pathogenicity in animals and humans. Our results suggest that small mammalian pets may serve as a reservoir for potentially pathogenic E. coli and implicate a zoonotic risk. 2021-10-27T20:35:58Z 2021-10-27T20:35:58Z 2020 2021-02-03T13:35:51Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136558 en 10.1016/J.VETMIC.2019.108506 Veterinary Microbiology Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV PMC |
| spellingShingle | Fabian, Niora J Mannion, Anthony J Feng, Yan Madden, Carolyn M Fox, James G Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| title | Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| title_full | Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| title_fullStr | Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| title_short | Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| title_sort | intestinal colonization of genotoxic escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136558 |
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