Functional analysis of colonization factor antigen I positive enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli identifies genes implicated in survival in water and host colonization

Moataz Abd El Ghany; Lars Barquist; Simon Clare; Cordelia Brandt; Matthew Mayho; Enrique Joffre; Åsa Sjöling; A Keith Turner; John D Klena; Robert A Kingsley; Grant A Hill-Cawthorne; Gordon Dougan; Derek Pickard

doi:10.1099/mgen.0.000554

Functional analysis of colonization factor antigen I positive enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli identifies genes implicated in survival in water and host colonization

Microb Genom. 2021 Jun;7(6):000554. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000554.

Authors

Moataz Abd El Ghany^{1

2

3

4}, Lars Barquist^{5

6}, Simon Clare⁷, Cordelia Brandt⁷, Matthew Mayho⁷, Enrique Joffre⁸, Åsa Sjöling⁸, A Keith Turner^{7

9}, John D Klena¹⁰, Robert A Kingsley^{7

9}, Grant A Hill-Cawthorne¹¹, Gordon Dougan^{12

7}, Derek Pickard^{12

7}

Affiliations

¹ The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
³ The Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
⁷ The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
⁸ Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁹ Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK.
¹⁰ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
¹¹ School of Public Health, the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
¹² Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Abstract

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) expressing the colonization pili CFA/I are common causes of diarrhoeal infections in humans. Here, we use a combination of transposon mutagenesis and transcriptomic analysis to identify genes and pathways that contribute to ETEC persistence in water environments and colonization of a mammalian host. ETEC persisting in water exhibit a distinct RNA expression profile from those growing in richer media. Multiple pathways were identified that contribute to water survival, including lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and stress response regulons. The analysis also indicated that ETEC growing in vivo in mice encounter a bottleneck driving down the diversity of colonizing ETEC populations.

Keywords: CFA/I; ETEC; H10407; RNAseq; TraDIS; water survival and colonization.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Disease Models, Animal
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / genetics*
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / growth & development*
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / isolation & purification
Escherichia coli Infections
Escherichia coli Proteins / genetics*
Female
Fimbriae Proteins / genetics*
Fimbriae Proteins / isolation & purification
Fimbriae, Bacterial
Genes, Bacterial / genetics
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Phenotype
Water
Water Microbiology*

Substances

Escherichia coli Proteins
colonization factor antigens
Water
Fimbriae Proteins

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding