Determining the Virulence Properties of Escherichia coli ST131 Containing Bacteriocin-Encoding Plasmids Using Short- and Long-Read Sequencing and Comparing Them with Those of Other E. coli Lineages

Abstract

Escherichia coli ST131 is a clinical challenge due to its multidrug resistant profile and successful global spread. They are often associated with complicated infections, particularly urinary tract infections (UTIs). Bacteriocins play an important role to outcompete other microorganisms present in the human gut. Here, we characterized bacteriocin-encoding plasmids found in ST131 isolates of patients suffering from a UTI using both short- and long-read sequencing. Colicins Ia, Ib and E1, and microcin V, were identified among plasmids that also contained resistance and virulence genes. To investigate if the potential transmission range of the colicin E1 plasmid is influenced by the presence of a resistance gene, we constructed a strain containing a plasmid which had both the colicin E1 and blaCMY-2 genes. No difference in transmission range was found between transformant and wild-type strains. However, a statistically significantly difference was found in adhesion and invasion ability. Bacteriocin-producing isolates from both ST131 and non-ST131 lineages were able to inhibit the growth of other E. coli isolates, including other ST131. In summary, plasmids harboring bacteriocins give additional advantages for highly virulent and resistant ST131 isolates, improving the ability of these isolates to compete with other microbiota for a niche and thereby increasing the risk of infection.

Genome engineering of Stx1-and Stx2-converting bacteriophages unveils the virulence of the dairy isolate Escherichia coli O174:H2 strain UC4224

“…In line with our results, a previous study has shown that non-pathogenic E. coli strains are non-lethal to G. mellonella with inoculations of up to 10 7 CFU/ larvae (Zuppi et al, 2020). Our results highlight that the deletion of either or both the stx genes does not completely suppress UC4224 virulence, leading to suppose the involvement of LAA PAI, plasmidencoded VFs, non-stx prophage encoded VFs, non-LEE T3SS effectors and other colonization contributing factors in delivering pathogenicity to the host (Cundon et al, 2018;da Campos et al, 2019;Vélez et al, 2020b;Cortimiglia et al, 2021;Sánchez et al, 2021). Indeed, previously, another study observed that the deletion of stx genes in the presence of other virulence factors reduces the pathogenicity.…”

Extended Spectrum Betalactamase Research mapping; a 32-year Temporal and geographical perspective.

“…Together, four major sequence types (STs) 69, 73, 95, and 131 have been linked to most UTI and bloodstream infections (40-60% in the UK), and they differ in their antibiotic susceptibilities [35,44]. Although ST131 is primarily associated with a variety of AMR and Extended spectrum resistance, STs 69, 73 and 93 rarely show similar phenotype [45]. E. coli ST131 is a high risk MDR isolate and its global spread makes it the most frequently studied clone across decades.…”

Multiple plasmid origin‐of‐transfer regions might aid the spread of antimicrobial resistance to human pathogens

“…Compared to established tools like OriTfinder, our method performs similarly, though with some complementarity (Tables A1‐3 and A1‐4), suggesting that it is a useful complement to the existing methods. However, its main advantage is the capability to determine Mob groups from mere oriT regions (accuracy >90%, Table A1‐2) without the requirement for relaxase typing, which also enables typing oriT s in plasmids without a (known) relaxase (da Cruz Campos et al, 2019).…”