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 Muniesa, M.
Right arrow Articles by Jofre, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Muniesa, M.
Right arrow Articles by Jofre, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, August 2003, p. 4554-4562, Vol. 71, No. 8
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.8.4554-4562.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Shiga Toxin 2-Converting Bacteriophages Associated with Clonal Variability in Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strains of Human Origin Isolated from a Single Outbreak

Maite Muniesa,1 Mercè de Simon,2 Guillem Prats,3 Dolors Ferrer,2 Helena Pañella,4 and Juan Jofre1*

Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, E-08028 Barcelona,1 Servei Microbiologia, Institut Municipal de Salut Pública de Barcelona, E-08001 Barcelona,2 Department of Microbiology, Hospital St. Pau, E-08025 Barcelona,3 Servei Epidemiologia, Institut Municipal de Salut Pública, Ajuntament de Barcelona, E-08023 Barcelona, Spain4

Received 26 November 2002/ Accepted 29 April 2003

Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2)-converting bacteriophages induced from 49 strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolated during a recent outbreak of enterocolitis in Spain were examined in an attempt to identify the variability due to the stx2-converting phages. The bacterial isolates were divided into low-, medium-, and high-phage-production groups on the basis of the number of phages released after mitomycin C induction. Low- and medium-phage-production isolates harbored two kinds of phages but released only one of them, whereas high-phage-production isolates harbored only one of the two phages. One of the phages, {phi}SC370, which was detected only in the isolates with two phages, showed similarities with phage 933W. The second phage, {phi}LC159, differed from {phi}SC370 in morphology and DNA structure. When both phages were present in the same bacterial chromosome, as occurred in most of the isolates, only {phi}SC370 was detected in the supernatants of the induced cultures. If {phi}LC159 was released, its presence was masked by {phi}SC370. When {phi}SC370 was absent, large amounts of {phi}LC159 were released, suggesting that there was some regulation of phage expression between the two phages. To our knowledge, this is the first description of clonal variability due to phage loss. The higher level of phage production was reflected in the larger amounts of Stx2 toxin produced by the cultures. Some relationship between phage production and the severity of symptoms was observed, and consequently these observations suggest that the virulence of the isolates studied could be related to the variability of the induced stx2-converting phages.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain. Phone: 34934021487. Fax: 34934110592. E-mail: joan{at}porthos.bio.ub.es.

Editor: A. D. O'Brien

Infection and Immunity, August 2003, p. 4554-4562, Vol. 71, No. 8
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.8.4554-4562.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kulasekara, B. R., Jacobs, M., Zhou, Y., Wu, Z., Sims, E., Saenphimmachak, C., Rohmer, L., Ritchie, J. M., Radey, M., McKevitt, M., Freeman, T. L., Hayden, H., Haugen, E., Gillett, W., Fong, C., Chang, J., Beskhlebnaya, V., Waldor, M. K., Samadpour, M., Whittam, T. S., Kaul, R., Brittnacher, M., Miller, S. I. (2009). Analysis of the Genome of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 2006 Spinach-Associated Outbreak Isolate Indicates Candidate Genes That May Enhance Virulence. Infect. Immun. 77: 3713-3721 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yang, Z., Kim, J., Zhang, C., Zhang, M., Nietfeldt, J., Southward, C. M., Surette, M. G., Kachman, S. D., Benson, A. K. (2009). Genomic Instability in Regions Adjacent to a Highly Conserved pch Prophage in Escherichia coli O157:H7 Generates Diversity in Expression Patterns of the LEE Pathogenicity Island. J. Bacteriol. 191: 3553-3568 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Garcia-Aljaro, C., Muniesa, M., Jofre, J., Blanch, A. R. (2009). Genotypic and Phenotypic Diversity among Induced, stx2-Carrying Bacteriophages from Environmental Escherichia coli Strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 329-336 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Strauch, E., Hammerl, J. A., Konietzny, A., Schneiker-Bekel, S., Arnold, W., Goesmann, A., Puhler, A., Beutin, L. (2008). Bacteriophage 2851 Is a Prototype Phage for Dissemination of the Shiga Toxin Variant Gene 2c in Escherichia coli O157:H7. Infect. Immun. 76: 5466-5477 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Karama, M., Gyles, C. L. (2008). Characterization of Verotoxin-Encoding Phages from Escherichia coli O103:H2 Strains of Bovine and Human Origins. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5153-5158 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beutin, L., Kruger, U., Krause, G., Miko, A., Martin, A., Strauch, E. (2008). Evaluation of Major Types of Shiga Toxin 2e-Producing Escherichia coli Bacteria Present in Food, Pigs, and the Environment as Potential Pathogens for Humans. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4806-4816 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Serra-Moreno, R., Jofre, J., Muniesa, M. (2008). The CI Repressors of Shiga Toxin-Converting Prophages Are Involved in Coinfection of Escherichia coli Strains, Which Causes a Down Regulation in the Production of Shiga Toxin 2. J. Bacteriol. 190: 4722-4735 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • de Sablet, T., Bertin, Y., Vareille, M., Girardeau, J.-P., Garrivier, A., Gobert, A. P., Martin, C. (2008). Differential expression of stx2 variants in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli belonging to seropathotypes A and C. Microbiology 154: 176-186 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Baker, D. R., Moxley, R. A., Steele, M. B., LeJeune, J. T., Christopher-Hennings, J., Chen, D.-G., Hardwidge, P. R., Francis, D. H. (2007). Differences in Virulence among Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strains Isolated from Humans during Disease Outbreaks and from Healthy Cattle. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 7338-7346 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Serra-Moreno, R., Jofre, J., Muniesa, M. (2007). Insertion Site Occupancy by stx2 Bacteriophages Depends on the Locus Availability of the Host Strain Chromosome. J. Bacteriol. 189: 6645-6654 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ochoa, T. J., Chen, J., Walker, C. M., Gonzales, E., Cleary, T. G. (2007). Rifaximin Does Not Induce Toxin Production or Phage-Mediated Lysis of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 2837-2841 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gyles, C. L. (2007). Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli: An overview. J ANIM SCI 85: E45-E62 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Willenbrock, H., Petersen, A., Sekse, C., Kiil, K., Wasteson, Y., Ussery, D. W. (2006). Design of a Seven-Genome Escherichia coli Microarray for Comparative Genomic Profiling. J. Bacteriol. 188: 7713-7721 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bielaszewska, M., Prager, R., Zhang, W., Friedrich, A. W., Mellmann, A., Tschape, H., Karch, H. (2006). Chromosomal Dynamism in Progeny of Outbreak-Related Sorbitol-Fermenting Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:NM.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 1900-1909 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Geue, L., Selhorst, T., Schnick, C., Mintel, B., Conraths, F. J. (2006). Analysis of the Clonal Relationship of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Serogroup O165:H25 Isolated from Cattle.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 2254-2259 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Strauch, E., Schaudinn, C., Beutin, L. (2004). First-Time Isolation and Characterization of a Bacteriophage Encoding the Shiga Toxin 2c Variant, Which Is Globally Spread in Strains of Escherichia coli O157. Infect. Immun. 72: 7030-7039 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gamage, S. D., Patton, A. K., Hanson, J. F., Weiss, A. A. (2004). Diversity and Host Range of Shiga Toxin-Encoding Phage. Infect. Immun. 72: 7131-7139 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mora, A., Blanco, M., Blanco, J. E., Alonso, M. P., Dhabi, G., Thomson-Carter, F., Usera, M. A., Bartolome, R., Prats, G., Blanco, J. (2004). Phage Types and Genotypes of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Isolates from Humans and Animals in Spain: Identification and Characterization of Two Predominating Phage Types (PT2 and PT8). J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 4007-4015 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brussow, H., Canchaya, C., Hardt, W.-D. (2004). Phages and the Evolution of Bacterial Pathogens: from Genomic Rearrangements to Lysogenic Conversion. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68: 560-602 [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»