newly discovered verotoxin variant, VT2g, produced by bovine verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli

• Published in: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Vol. 69; no. 12; pp. 7549 - 7553
• Main Authors: Leung, P.H.M, Peiris, J.S.M, Ng, W.W.S, Robins-Browne, R.M, Bettelheim, K.A, Yam, W.C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology 01.12.2003
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; amino acid sequences; Animals; Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; biosynthesis; Cattle; Cattle Diseases - microbiology; Cercopithecus aethiops; cytotoxicity; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Escherichia coli - pathogenicity; Escherichia coli Infections - microbiology; Escherichia coli Infections - veterinary; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics; HeLa Cells; Humans; Intestinal Mucosa - metabolism; Mice; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; Public health; Public Health Microbiology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; sequence homology; serotypes; Serotyping; Shiga Toxin 2 - chemistry; Shiga Toxin 2 - genetics; Shiga Toxin 2 - metabolism; Shiga Toxin 2 - toxicity; structural genes; Toxins; Vero Cells; verotoxins; vt2g gene; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Bovine; Escherichia coli; Bacteria; Artiodactyla; Ungulata; Shiga like toxin; Enterobacteriaceae
• ISSN: 0099-2240; 1098-5336
• DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.12.7549-7553.2003

A new verotoxin (VT) variant, designated vt2g, was identified from a bovine strain of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) serotype O2:H25. When vt2g was aligned with published sequences of vt2 and vt variants, it exhibited the highest DNA sequence homology with vt2 and vt2c. However, vt2g was not detected by vt2-specific primers and probes, although it was partially neutralized by an antiserum to the VT2A subunit. VT2g was cytotoxic for Vero and HeLa cells and was not activated by mouse intestinal mucus. The vt2g gene was detected in 3 of 409 (0.7%) bovine VTEC strains, including serotypes O2:H25, O2:H45 and Ont:H(-).