Phylogenetic Groups and Pathogenicity Island Markers in Escherichia coli Isolated From Children

Abstract

Background: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a causative agent in most of the urinary tract infections (UTIs) which expresses a multitude of virulence factors. Objectives: In this study, we compared the presence of various PAI markers and phylogenetic groups in isolated E. coli from the urine of children with UTI and E. coli isolated from healthy children stool samples. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 E. coli isolates were collected from September 2009 to August 2010. Biochemical and standard microbiological methods were used to identify the UPEC and fecal E. coli isolates from healthy people. All isolates subjected to phylogenetic groups typing and examination for pathogenicity islands (PAI) by multiplex PCR. Results: We found a high number of PAI markers such as PAI ICFT073, PAI IICFT073, PAI I536, PAI IV536, PAI II J96 and PAI II536 significantly associated with UPEC. The PAI IV536 was the most detected ones among fecal E.coli isolated from healthy people while PAI I536, PAI II536 and PAI IJ96 were not seen. PCR phylogenetic groups typing revealed that uropathogenic strains were mainly found in B2 and D subgroups, while in fecal strains, A and B1 phylogenetic groups were the most common ones. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study of the phylogenetic groups typing and PAIs marker of UPEC and fecal E. coli in Iran.