In vitro adhesion properties of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from cattle, food, and humans

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 6; p. 156
• Main Authors: Pradel, Nathalie, Etienne-Mesmin, Lucie, Thévenot, Jonathan, Cordonnier, Charlotte, Blanquet-Diot, Stéphanie, Livrelli, Valérie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media 2015; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Life Sciences; Microbiology; eae; STEC; toxB; seropathotype; cell lines adhesion
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00156

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are able to cause serious illnesses ranging from diarrhea to hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). These bacteria colonize the digestive tract of humans and produce Shiga-toxins, which are considered to be essential for virulence and are crucial in lethal infection. Colon colonization is supposed to be a determinant step in the development of the infection, but the virulence traits that mediate this step are unclear. We analyzed the ability of 256 STEC strains belonging to seropathotype A (the most virulent O157:H7 serotype) to seropathotype E (not involved in human disease) to adhere to HEp-2, HCT-8, and T84 cell lines. Of the 256 STEC tested most (82%) were non-adherent in our assays. The adhesion levels were globally low and were not related to pathogenicity, although the highest levels were associated to O26:H11 and O103:H2 strains of seropathotype B (associated with HUS but less commonly than serotype O157:H7), possessing both the eae and toxB genes.