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Infection and Immunity, July 2005, p. 4081-4087, Vol. 73, No. 7
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.7.4081-4087.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Multiple Insertional Events, Restricted by the Genetic Background, Have Led to Acquisition of Pathogenicity Island II_J96-Like Domains among Escherichia coli Strains of Different Clinical Origins

Laboratoire d'études de génétique bactérienne dans les infections de l'enfant (EA3105), Université Denis Diderot—Paris 7, Service de Microbiologie, Hôpital Robert Debré (AP-HP), 75019 Paris, France

Received 16 November 2004/ Returned for modification 3 January 2005/ Accepted 9 March 2005

We investigated the dissemination of pathogenicity island (PAI) II_J96-like elements (hra, hly, cnf1, and pap) among 455 Escherichia coli isolates from children and adults with urinary tract infection (UTI), neonates with meningitis or colonized healthy neonates, and 74 reference strains by means of PCR phylogenetic grouping, ribotyping, and PCR analysis of virulence genes. Colocalization of these genes was documented by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis followed by Southern hybridization and long-range PCR (LRPCR) between the hra and the papG alleles. Site-specific insertion of the PAI was determined by LRPCR between hra and tRNA flanking sequences. hra, hly, and cnf1 were found in 113 isolates and consistently colocalized, constituting the backbone of PAI II_J96-like domains. The prevalence of PAI II_J96-like domains was significantly higher among UTI isolates than among neonatal meningitis and commensal isolates. These domains were restricted to a few ribotypes of group B2. In contrast to the consistent colocalization of hra, hly, and cnf1, the pap operon was varied: 12% of strains exhibited an allelic exchange of the papG class III allele (papGIII) for the papG class II allele (papGII) (only UTI isolates), and the pap operon was deleted in 23% of strains. No strains harbored papGIII outside the PAI, which appears to be the only source of this allele. PAI II_J96-like domains were inserted in the vicinities of three different tRNAs—pheU (54%), leuX (29%), and pheV (15%)—depending on the genetic backgrounds and origins of the isolates. Multiple insertional events restricted by the genetic background have thus led to PAI II_J96 acquisition. Specific genetic backgrounds and insertion sites may have played a role in additional recombination processes for E. coli adaptation to different ecological niches.

Editor: J. B. Bliska

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