Evidence for a human-specific Escherichia coli clone

Escherichia coli is a widespread commensal of the vertebrate intestinal tract. Until recently, no strong association between a particular clone and a given host species has been found. However, members of the B2 subgroup VIII clone with an O81 serotype appear to be human host specific. To determine...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental microbiology 2008-04, Vol.10 (4), p.1000-1006
Main Authors: Clermont, Olivier, Lescat, Mathilde, O'Brien, Claire L, Gordon, David M, Tenaillon, Olivier, Denamur, Erick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa - epidemiology
Animals
Clone Cells
Escherichia coli - classification
Escherichia coli - genetics
Escherichia coli Infections - prevention & control
Europe - epidemiology
Feces - microbiology
Humans
Mice
Phylogeny
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Rivers - microbiology
South America - epidemiology
Species Specificity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Escherichia coli is a widespread commensal of the vertebrate intestinal tract. Until recently, no strong association between a particular clone and a given host species has been found. However, members of the B2 subgroup VIII clone with an O81 serotype appear to be human host specific. To determine the degree of host specificity exhibited by this clone, a PCR-based assay was used to screen 723 faecal and clinical isolates from humans, and 904 faecal isolates from animals. This clone was not detected among the animal isolates, but was discovered in people living in Africa, Europe and South America. The clone is rarely isolated from people suffering from intestinal or extraintestinal disease and is avirulent in a mouse model of extraintestinal infection. Fine-scale epidemiological analysis suggests that this clone is competitively dominant relative to other members of the B2 phylogenetic group and that it has increased in frequency over the past 20 years. This clone appears to be a good candidate for use as a probiotic, and may be suitable as an indicator of human faecal contamination in microbial source tracking studies.
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01520.x