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Infection and Immunity, August 2002, p. 4362-4368, Vol. 70, No. 8
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.8.4362-4368.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Tissue Tropism of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains Belonging to the O55 Serogroup

Centre for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Royal Free Hospital and University College Medical School,¹ Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, United Kingdom,² Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil³

Received 28 January 2002/ Returned for modification 2 April 2002/ Accepted 29 April 2002

Four enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains belonging to the O55 serogroup (G21 and G30 [both O55:H6], G35 [O55:H-], and G58 [O55:H7]) were tested for their tissue tropism by using human intestinal in vitro organ culture. Strains showed restricted adhesion with attaching-and-effacing activity to follicle-associated epithelium of Peyer's patches, with no apparent adhesion to duodenum or colon. G35 and G58 express intimin and show a similar tropism to intimin -expressing enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O157:H7. However, strains G21 and G30 were unusual because they expressed intimin and had a restricted tissue tropism of intimin phenotype. The amino acid sequence of the carboxy-terminal 280 amino acids of intimin from G21 was determined. Comparison with the prototype intimin from strain E2348/69 (O127:H6) showed a single amino acid difference (corresponding to Val907 and Ala907 in the whole intimins). This mutation was reproduced by site-directed mutagenesis in an intimin plasmid template, pCVD438, with the hypothesis that it may induce a change in tropism. However, when the mutated plasmid was placed in both EPEC and EHEC backgrounds, duodenal adhesion in a manner similar to strain E2348/69 was evident upon in vitro organ culture. Thus, additional factor(s) unrelated to intimin exist in the O55:H6 genome that influence human intestinal tissue tropism.

Editor: A. D. O'Brien

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