1.
Herías, M V, et al.
(author)
Role of Escherichia coli P fimbriae in intestinal colonization in gnotobiotic rats.
1995
In: Infection and immunity. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 0019-9567 .- 1098-5522. ; 63:12, s. 4781-9
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
Adherence via P fimbriae is associated with long-term persistence of Escherichia coli in the human large intestine, but a causal relationship has not been proven. In the present study, germfree rats were colonized with a mixture of two isogenic E. coli strains, one P fimbriated and the other type 1 fimbriated. Both types of fimbriae conferred adherence to rat colonic epithelial cells. With two mutant strains from a pyelonephritogenic isolate of serotype O75:K5:H-, the P-fimbriated strain 824 attained much higher numbers than its type 1-fimbriated counterpart when colonized in vivo for 2 weeks (10(10) versus 10(6) bacteria per g, respectively; P < 0.0001). The expression of P fimbriae by 824 was also retained during colonization. With transformant isogenic strains obtained from a normal fecal isolate incapable of phase variation, no benefit of P fimbriae was seen and most bacteria lost their plasmids during in vivo colonization. When the pyelonephritogenic mutant and fecal transformant strains were combined, the former colonized at high levels while the latter were suppressed. In contrast, no suppression was seen when the transformant E. coli strains colonized in combination with Lactobacillus acidophilus or Peptostreptococcus sp. The results indicate that P fimbriae, but also other bacterial traits linked to uropathogeneicity, could play an important role for persistence in the gut normal microbiota. Neither P nor type 1 fimbriae seemed to contribute to the ability to translocate to the mesenteric lymph nodes.
2.
Herías, M V, et al.
(author)
Escherichia coli K5 capsule expression enhances colonization of the large intestine in the gnotobiotic rat.
1997
In: Infection and immunity. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 0019-9567 .- 1098-5522. ; 65:2, s. 531-6
Journal article (peer-reviewed) abstract
The role of capsule expression in the capacity of Escherichia coli to colonize in the large intestinal environment was studied in a gnotobiotic rat model. The rats were given perorally a mixture of two mutant strains differing in K5 expression. After 2 weeks, the rats were sacrificed, and subsequently intestinal contents, intestinal mucosae, and mesenteric lymph nodes were homogenized and bacterial numbers were quantified. Two E. coli mutant pairs were used, the first pair (972-998) lacking the O-specific side chain and the second pair (973-997) carrying the O75 lipopolysaccharide. The K5+ mutants established themselves at a higher level than the K5- mutants (10(9) versus 10(6) CFU/g [P < 0.001] for the first pair and 10(9) versus 10(8) CFU/g [P < 0.01] for the second pair, respectively). The results were confirmed by serology showing a K5+ phenotype for practically all isolates. The bacterial population associated with the mucosa was similar to that in the luminal contents with respect to the proportions of the respective mutants, and translocation occurred in numbers proportional to the intestinal population densities of the respective mutants. All mutants were able to express type 1 as well as P fimbriae. After colonization, the expression of P fimbriae remained high whereas only a minority of the isolates expressed type 1 fimbriae. The results suggest that capsule expression and P fimbriae enhance intestinal colonization by E. coli and that these virulence factors, by increasing bacterial densities in the intestine, secondarily increase translocation.
