Uropathogenic virulence factor FimH facilitates binding of uteropathogenic Escherichia coli to canine endometrium

Abstract

Pyometra is a potentially life-threatening condition in bitches and is often caused by . Escherichia coli infection. Both pathogenic and non-pathogenic . E. coli strains commonly carry the genes for type 1 fimbriae that mediate bacterial adhesion onto host epithelium. To investigate whether the type 1 fimbrial adhesin, FimH, facilitates the binding of uropathogenic . E. coli to canine endometrium, the . fimH gene was insertionally inactivated in a pathogenic . E. coli strain. The ability of . E. coli to bind to canine endometrial epithelial cells was determined . in vitro using canine uterine biopsies. Binding of the . fimH mutant was only 0.3% of that of the wild type. Complementation of th..