This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Okeke, I. N.
Right arrow Articles by Kaper, J. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Okeke, I. N.
Right arrow Articles by Kaper, J. B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, September 2001, p. 5553-5564, Vol. 69, No. 9
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.9.5553-5564.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Comparative Sequence Analysis of the Plasmid-Encoded Regulator of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains

Iruka N. Okeke,1,dagger Jade A. Borneman,2 Sooan Shin,1 Jay L. Mellies,3 Laura E. Quinn,1 and James B. Kaper1,*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Center for Vaccine Development1 and Department of Medical Research and Technology,2 University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, and Biology Department, Reed College, Portland, Oregon 972023

Received 11 January 2001/Returned for modification 9 April 2001/Accepted 18 June 2001

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains that carry the EPEC adherence factor (EAF) plasmid were screened for the presence of different EAF sequences, including those of the plasmid-encoded regulator (per). Considerable variation in gene content of EAF plasmids from different strains was seen. However, bfpA, the gene encoding the structural subunit for the bundle-forming pilus, bundlin, and per genes were found in 96.8% of strains. Sequence analysis of the per operon and its promoter region from 15 representative strains revealed that it is highly conserved. Most of the variation occurs in the 5' two-thirds of the perA gene. In contrast, the C-terminal portion of the predicted PerA protein that contains the DNA-binding helix-turn-helix motif is 100% conserved in all strains that possess a full-length gene. In a minority of strains including the O119:H2 and canine isolates and in a subset of O128:H2 and O142:H6 strains, frameshift mutations in perA leading to premature truncation and consequent inactivation of the gene were identified. Cloned perA, -B, and -C genes from these strains, unlike those from strains with a functional operon, failed to activate the LEE1 operon and bfpA transcriptional fusions or to complement a per mutant in reference strain E2348/69. Furthermore, O119, O128, and canine strains that carry inactive per operons were deficient in virulence protein expression. The context in which the perABC operon occurs on the EAF plasmid varies. The sequence upstream of the per promoter region in EPEC reference strains E2348/69 and B171-8 was present in strains belonging to most serogroups. In a subset of O119:H2, O128:H2, and O142:H6 strains and in the canine isolate, this sequence was replaced by an IS1294-homologous sequence.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201. Phone: (410) 706-5328. Fax: (410) 706-0182. E-mail: jkaper{at}umaryland.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP United Kingdom.

Infection and Immunity, September 2001, p. 5553-5564, Vol. 69, No. 9
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.9.5553-5564.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Salinger, N., Kokona, B., Fairman, R., Okeke, I. N. (2009). The Plasmid-Encoded Regulator Activates Factors Conferring Lysozyme Resistance on Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 275-280 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Anjum, M. F., Mafura, M., Slickers, P., Ballmer, K., Kuhnert, P., Woodward, M. J., Ehricht, R. (2007). Pathotyping Escherichia coli by Using Miniaturized DNA Microarrays. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 5692-5697 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nwaneshiudu, A. I., Mucci, T., Pickard, D. J., Okeke, I. N. (2007). A Second Large Plasmid Encodes Conjugative Transfer and Antimicrobial Resistance in O119:H2 and Some Typical O111 Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains. J. Bacteriol. 189: 6074-6079 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lacher, D. W., Steinsland, H., Blank, T. E., Donnenberg, M. S., Whittam, T. S. (2007). Molecular Evolution of Typical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli: Clonal Analysis by Multilocus Sequence Typing and Virulence Gene Allelic Profiling. J. Bacteriol. 189: 342-350 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Steele, M., Ziebell, K., Zhang, Y., Benson, A., Konczy, P., Johnson, R., Gannon, V. (2007). Identification of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Genomic Regions Conserved in Strains with a Genotype Associated with Human Infection. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 22-31 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brinkley, C., Burland, V., Keller, R., Rose, D. J., Boutin, A. T., Klink, S. A., Blattner, F. R., Kaper, J. B. (2006). Nucleotide Sequence Analysis of the Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Adherence Factor Plasmid pMAR7. Infect. Immun. 74: 5408-5413 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Porter, M. E., Mitchell, P., Free, A., Smith, D. G. E., Gally, D. L. (2005). The LEE1 Promoters from both Enteropathogenic and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Can Be Activated by PerC-Like Proteins from Either Organism. J. Bacteriol. 187: 458-472 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Clarke, S. C., Haigh, R. D., Freestone, P. P. E., Williams, P. H. (2003). Virulence of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, a Global Pathogen. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 16: 365-378 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beutin, L., Marches, O., Bettelheim, K. A., Gleier, K., Zimmermann, S., Schmidt, H., Oswald, E. (2003). HEp-2 Cell Adherence, Actin Aggregation, and Intimin Types of Attaching and Effacing Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Healthy Infants in Germany and Australia. Infect. Immun. 71: 3995-4002 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ibarra, J. A., Villalba, M. I., Puente, J. L. (2003). Identification of the DNA Binding Sites of PerA, the Transcriptional Activator of the bfp and per Operons in Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 185: 2835-2847 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yatsuyanagi, J., Saito, S., Miyajima, Y., Amano, K.-I., Enomoto, K. (2003). Characterization of Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains Harboring the astA Gene That Were Associated with a Waterborne Outbreak of Diarrhea in Japan. J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: 2033-2039 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gismero-Ordonez, J., Dall'Agnol, M., Trabulsi, L. R., Giron, J. A. (2002). Expression of the Bundle-Forming Pilus by Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains of Heterologous Serotypes. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 2291-2296 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»