Journal article

Contribution of long polar fimbriae to the virulence of rabbit-specific enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

HJ Newton, J Sloan, V Bennett-Wood, LM Adams, RM Robins-Browne, EL Hartland

INFECTION AND IMMUNITY | AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY | Published : 2004

Abstract

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major of cause of diarrhea among children in developing countries. Although EPEC is a human specific pathogen, some related strains are natural pathogens of animals, including laboratory-bred rabbits. We have identified two chromosomal loci in rabbit-specific EPEC (REPEC) O15:H- strain 83/39, which are predicted to encode long polar fimbriae (LPF). lpf(R154) was identical to a fimbrial gene cluster, lpf(O113), identified previously in enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O113:H21. The second locus, lpf(R141), comprised a novel sequence with five predicted open reading frames, lpfA to lpfE, that encoded long fine fimbriae in nonfimbriated E. coli ORN1..

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