Abstract
Fim operons were examined to illuminate the emergence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from the less-virulent E. coli O55:H7. A fim invertible element deletion occurred only after O157:H7 descended from O55:H7, and after sorbitol nonfermenting O157 diverged. Type 1 pili nonexpression correlates with this deletion in all enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) tested. An N135K FimH mutation in the two most evolved O157:H7 clusters is not found in other EHEC. These data refine the evolutionary history of an emerging pathogen.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 58-63 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | FEMS Microbiology Letters |
Volume | 273 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2007 |
Keywords
- Evolution
- FimH
- Pili