Identification of a novel fimbrial gene cluster related to long polar fimbriae in locus of enterocyte effacement-negative strains of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Abstract

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is a food-borne cause of bloody diarrhea and the hemolyticuremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Most strains of EHEC belong to a group of bacterial pathogens that cause distinctive lesions on the host intestine termed attaching-and-effacing (A/E) lesions. A/E strains of EHEC, including the predominant serotype, O157:H7, are responsible for the majority of HUS outbreaks worldwide. However, several serotypes of EHEC are not A/E pathogens because they lack the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island. Nevertheless, such strains have been associated with sporadic cases and small outbreaks of hemorrhagic colitis and HUS. Of these LEE-negative ..