Detection of genes encoding for virulence and adherence factors in Escherichia coli isolated in slaughtered Sarda breed sheep

作者：Gianluca Busia; Anna Mureddu; Roberta Mazza; Domenico Meloni; Simonetta G Consolati; Francesca Piras; Catherine M Burgess; Geraldine Duffy; Mazzette R^*

来源：Veterinary Microbiology, 2014, 168(1): 234-239.

DOI：10.1016/j.vetmic.2013.10.022

• Escherichia coli
• Sheep
• Serotyping
• Associated virulence factors
• PCR

In order to investigate the pathogenic profile of Escherichia coli hosted in %26quot;Sarda%26quot; sheep, autochthonous race present in Sardinia, thirty-seven E. coli strains collected from different sources (fleeces, carcass swabs and gut mucosa) of pre-chill slaughtered sheep (ewes and lambs) were serotyped using pheno- and genotypic methods. Furthermore, the presence of genes encoding for virulence factors and mediating for localized mucosal adherence factors was investigated, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) characterization was performed. %26lt;br%26gt;Twenty-one (56.8%) of the isolates belonged to 091 serogroup and sixteen (43.2%) belonged to nine different serotypes (O5:H11, O8:H14, O26:H2, O38:H26, O116:H9, O116:H11, O132:H34, O149:H?, O161:H-). Of these non-O91 strains, five (13.5%) were able to produce verocytotoxin (VT) and were ascribed to VTEC pathogroup, eleven (29.7%) were attributed to the Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) pathogroup; the other strains (n.21) cannot be ascribed to a pathogenic group. However, various associated virulence genes were observed in all isolated strains. Macrorestriction analysis highlighted a large heterogeneity of the E. coli strains. %26lt;br%26gt;The results confirm the role of sheep as reservoir of pathogenic E. coli serotypes potentially able to colonize and to damage the intestinal mucosa.

• 出版日期2014-1-10