» Articles » PMID: 15629933

Evolutionary Genetics of a New Pathogenic Escherichia Species: Escherichia Albertii and Related Shigella Boydii Strains

Overview
Journal J Bacteriol
Specialty Microbiology
Date 2005 Jan 5
PMID 15629933
Citations 74
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

A bacterium originally described as Hafnia alvei induces diarrhea in rabbits and causes epithelial damage similar to the attachment and effacement associated with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subsequent studies identified similar H. alvei-like strains that are positive for an intimin gene (eae) probe and, based on DNA relatedness, are classified as a distinct Escherichia species, Escherichia albertii. We determined sequences for multiple housekeeping genes in five E. albertii strains and compared these sequences to those of strains representing the major groups of pathogenic E. coli and Shigella. A comparison of 2,484 codon positions in 14 genes revealed that E. albertii strains differ, on average, at approximately 7.4% of the nucleotide sites from pathogenic E. coli strains and at 15.7% from Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium. Interestingly, E. albertii strains were found to be closely related to strains of Shigella boydii serotype 13 (Shigella B13), a distant relative of E. coli representing a divergent lineage in the genus Escherichia. Analysis of homologues of intimin (eae) revealed that the central conserved domains are similar in E. albertii and Shigella B13 and distinct from those of eae variants found in pathogenic E. coli. Sequence analysis of the cytolethal distending toxin gene cluster (cdt) also disclosed three allelic groups corresponding to E. albertii, Shigella B13, and a nontypeable isolate serologically related to S. boydii serotype 7. Based on the synonymous substitution rate, the E. albertii-Shigella B13 lineage is estimated to have split from an E. coli-like ancestor approximately 28 million years ago and formed a distinct evolutionary branch of enteric pathogens that has radiated into groups with distinct virulence properties.

Citing Articles

Evaluation of a novel modified selective medium cefixime-tellurite-phosphate-xylose-rhamnose MacConkey agar for the isolation of Escherichia albertii from diarrheal stool specimens.

Takehira K, Awasthi S, Hatanaka N, Nagita A, Hinenoya A, Yamasaki S J Vet Med Sci. 2025; 87(3):308-314.

PMID: 39864865 PMC: 11903357. DOI: 10.1292/jvms.24-0500.


Detection of prolong excretion of in stool specimens of a 7-year-old child by a newly developed gene-based quantitative real-time PCR method and molecular characterization of the isolates.

Awasthi S, Nagita A, Hatanaka N, Hassan J, Xu B, Hinenoya A Heliyon. 2024; 10(9):e30042.

PMID: 38737260 PMC: 11088251. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30042.


Genomic and Phenotypic Characterization of Shiga Toxin-Producing Strains Isolated from Wild Birds in a Major Agricultural Region in California.

Carter M, Quinones B, He X, Pham A, Carychao D, Cooley M Microorganisms. 2023; 11(11).

PMID: 38004814 PMC: 10673567. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11112803.


Phylogenetic trees of closely related bacterial species and subspecies based on frequencies of short nucleotide sequences.

Nakano Y, Domon Y, Yamagishi K PLoS One. 2023; 18(4):e0268847.

PMID: 37079522 PMC: 10118083. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268847.


The genomic epidemiology of Escherichia albertii infecting humans and birds in Great Britain.

Bengtsson R, Baker K, Cunningham A, Greig D, John S, MacGregor S Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):1707.

PMID: 36973246 PMC: 10043262. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37312-3.


References
1.
Cope L, Lumbley S, Latimer J, STEVENS M, Johnson L, Purven M . A diffusible cytotoxin of Haemophilus ducreyi. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997; 94(8):4056-61. PMC: 20567. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.94.8.4056. View

2.
Janka A, Bielaszewska M, Dobrindt U, Greune L, Schmidt M, Karch H . Cytolethal distending toxin gene cluster in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H- and O157:H7: characterization and evolutionary considerations. Infect Immun. 2003; 71(6):3634-8. PMC: 155755. DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.6.3634-3638.2003. View

3.
Nataro J, Kaper J . Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1998; 11(1):142-201. PMC: 121379. DOI: 10.1128/CMR.11.1.142. View

4.
Adu-Bobie J, Frankel G, Bain C, Goncalves A, Trabulsi L, Douce G . Detection of intimins alpha, beta, gamma, and delta, four intimin derivatives expressed by attaching and effacing microbial pathogens. J Clin Microbiol. 1998; 36(3):662-8. PMC: 104605. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.36.3.662-668.1998. View

5.
Sugai M, Kawamoto T, Peres S, Ueno Y, Komatsuzawa H, Fujiwara T . The cell cycle-specific growth-inhibitory factor produced by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a cytolethal distending toxin. Infect Immun. 1998; 66(10):5008-19. PMC: 108622. DOI: 10.1128/IAI.66.10.5008-5019.1998. View