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Infection and Immunity, January 2003, p. 536-540, Vol. 71, No. 1
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.1.536-540.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of Virulence Factors in Resistance of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli to Serum and in Pathogenicity

Melha Mellata,1 Maryvonne Dho-Moulin,2 Charles M. Dozois,3,{dagger} Roy Curtiss III,3 Peter K. Brown,3 Pascal Arné,2,{ddagger} Annie Brée,2 Clarisse Desautels,1 and John M. Fairbrother1*

Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, St. Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 7C6, Canada,1 UR86, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 37380 Nouzilly, France,2 Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 631303

Received 28 February 2002/ Returned for modification 14 May 2002/ Accepted 15 October 2002

In chickens, colibacillosis is caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) via respiratory tract infection. Many virulence factors, including type 1 (F1A) and P (F11) fimbriae, curli, aerobactin, K1 capsule, and temperature-sensitive hemagglutinin (Tsh) and plasmid DNA regions have been associated with APEC. A strong correlation between serum resistance and virulence has been demonstrated, but roles of virulence factors in serum resistance have not been well elucidated. By using mutants of APEC strains TK3, MT78, and {chi}7122, which belong to serogroups O1, O2, and O78, respectively, we investigated the role of virulence factors in resistance to serum and pathogenicity in chickens. Our results showed that serum resistance is one of the pathogenicity mechanisms of APEC strains. Virulence factors that increased bacterial resistance to serum and colonization of internal organs of infected chickens were O78 lipopolysaccharide of E. coli {chi}7122 and the K1 capsule of E. coli MT78. In contrast, curli, type 1, and P fimbriae did not appear to contribute to serum resistance. We also showed that the iss gene, which was previously demonstrated to increase resistance to serum in certain E. coli strains, is located on plasmid pAPEC-1 of E. coli {chi}7122 but does not play a major role in resistance to serum for strain {chi}7122.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, St. Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 7C6, Canada. Phone: (1) 450 773 8521, ext. 8234. Fax: (1) 450 778 8108. E-mail: john.morris.fairbrother{at}umontreal.ca.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

{dagger} Present address: INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, Québec, Canada.

{ddagger} Present address: Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie et d'Analyse des Risques, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, 94704 Maisons-Alfort, France.


Infection and Immunity, January 2003, p. 536-540, Vol. 71, No. 1
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.1.536-540.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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