scholarly journals Identification of Genes Important for Growth of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Escherichia coli in Urine

2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (9) ◽  
pp. 3179-3188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Vejborg ◽  
Mari R. de Evgrafov ◽  
Minh Duy Phan ◽  
Makrina Totsika ◽  
Mark A. Schembri ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTEscherichia coliis the most important etiological agent of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Unlike uropathogenicE. coli, which causes symptomatic infections, asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU)E. colistrains typically lack essential virulence factors and colonize the bladder in the absence of symptoms. While ABUE. colican persist in the bladder for long periods of time, little is known about the genetic determinants required for its growth and fitness in urine. To identify such genes, we have employed a transposon mutagenesis approach using the prototypic ABUE. colistrain 83972 and the clinical ABUE. colistrain VR89. Six genes involved in the biosynthesis of various amino acids and nucleobases were identified (carB,argE,argC,purA,metE, andilvC), and site-specific mutants were subsequently constructed inE. coli83972 andE. coliVR89 for each of these genes. In all cases, these mutants exhibited reduced growth rates and final cell densities in human urine. The growth defects could be complemented intransas well as by supplementation with the appropriate amino acid or nucleobase. When assessedin vivoin a mouse model,E. coli83972carABand 83972argCshowed a significantly reduced competitive advantage in the bladder and/or kidney during coinoculation experiments with the parent strain, whereas 83972metEand 83972ilvCdid not. Taken together, our data have identified several biosynthesis pathways as new important fitness factors associated with the growth of ABUE. coliin human urine.

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allyson E. Shea ◽  
Juan Marzoa ◽  
Stephanie D. Himpsl ◽  
Sara N. Smith ◽  
Lili Zhao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Urinary tract infections (UTI), the second most diagnosed infectious disease worldwide, are caused primarily by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), placing a significant financial burden on the health care system. High-throughput transposon mutagenesis combined with genome-targeted sequencing is a powerful technique to interrogate genomes for fitness genes. Genome-wide analysis of E. coli requires random libraries of at least 50,000 mutants to achieve 99.99% saturation; however, the traditional murine model of ascending UTI does not permit testing of large mutant pools due to a bottleneck during infection. To address this, an E. coli CFT073 transposon mutant ordered library of 9,216 mutants was created and insertion sites were identified. A single transposon mutant was selected for each gene to assemble a condensed library consisting of 2,913 unique nonessential mutants. Using a modified UTI model in BALB/c mice, we identified 36 genes important for colonizing the bladder, including purB, yihE, and carB. Screening of the condensed library in vitro identified yigP and ubiG to be essential for growth in human urine. Additionally, we developed a novel quantitative PCR (qPCR) technique to identify genes with fitness defects within defined subgroups of related genes (e.g., genes encoding fimbriae, toxins, etc.) following UTI. The number of mutants within these subgroups circumvents bottleneck restriction and facilitates validation of multiple mutants to generate individual competitive indices. Collectively, this study investigates the bottleneck effects during UTI, provides two techniques for evading those effects that can be applied to other disease models, and contributes a genetic tool in prototype strain CFT073 to the field. IMPORTANCE Uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains cause most uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTI), one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Random transposon mutagenesis techniques have been utilized to identify essential bacterial genes during infection; however, this has been met with limitations when applied to the murine UTI model. Conventional high-throughput transposon mutagenesis screens are not feasible because of inoculum size restrictions due to a bottleneck during infection. Our study utilizes a condensed ordered transposon library, limiting the number of mutants while maintaining the largest possible genome coverage. Screening of this library in vivo, and in human urine in vitro, identified numerous candidate fitness factors. Additionally, we have developed a novel technique using qPCR to quantify bacterial outputs following infection with small subgroups of transposon mutants. Molecular approaches developed in this study will serve as useful tools to probe in vivo models that are restricted by anatomical, physiological, or genetic bottleneck limitations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
pp. 4753-4763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel R. Spurbeck ◽  
Ann E. Stapleton ◽  
James R. Johnson ◽  
Seth T. Walk ◽  
Thomas M. Hooton ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTEscherichia coli, a cause of ∼90% of urinary tract infections (UTI), utilizes fimbrial adhesins to colonize the uroepithelium. Pyelonephritis isolateE. coliCFT073 carries 12 fimbrial operons, 5 of which have never been studied. Using multiplex PCR, the prevalence of these 12 and 3 additional fimbrial types was determined for a collection of 303E. coliisolates (57 human commensal, 32 animal commensal, 54 asymptomatic bacteriuria, 45 complicated UTI, 38 uncomplicated cystitis, and 77 pyelonephritis). The number of fimbrial types perE. coliisolate was distributed bimodally: those with low (3.2 ± 1.1) and those with high (8.3 ± 1.3) numbers of fimbrial types (means ± standard errors of the means). The fimbrial genesygiL,yadN,yfcV, andc2395were significantly more prevalent among urine isolates than human commensal isolates. The effect of deletion of Ygi and Yad fimbrial operons on growth, motility, biofilm formation, adherence to immortalized human epithelial cells, and pathogenesis in the mouse model of UTI was examined. Yad fimbriae were necessary for wild-type levels of adherence to a bladder epithelial cell line and for biofilm formation. Deletion of these fimbrial genes increased motility. Ygi fimbriae were necessary for wild-type levels of adherence to a human embryonic kidney cell line, biofilm formation, andin vivofitness in the urine and kidneys. Complementation of each fimbrial mutant restored wild-type levels of motility, biofilm formation, adherence and, forygi,in vivofitness. A double deletion strain, Δygi Δyad, was attenuated in the urine, bladder, and kidneys in the mouse model, demonstrating that these fimbriae contribute to uropathogenesis.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 615-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoria Roos ◽  
Glen C. Ulett ◽  
Mark A. Schembri ◽  
Per Klemm

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is the most common organism associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU). In contrast to uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), which causes symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI), very little is known about the mechanisms by which these strains colonize the human urinary tract. The prototype ABU E. coli strain 83972 was originally isolated from a girl who had carried it asymptomatically for 3 years. Deliberate colonization of UTI-susceptible individuals with E. coli 83972 has been used successfully as an alternative approach for the treatment of patients who are refractory to conventional therapy. Colonization with strain 83972 appears to prevent infection with UPEC strains in such patients despite the fact that this strain is unable to express the primary adhesins involved in UTI, viz. P and type 1 fimbriae. Here we investigated the growth characteristics of E. coli 83972 in human urine and show that it can outcompete a representative spectrum of UPEC strains for growth in urine. The unique ability of ABU E. coli 83972 to outcompete UPEC in urine was also demonstrated in a murine model of human UTI, confirming the selective advantage over UPEC in vivo. Comparison of global gene expression profiles of E. coli 83972 grown in lab medium and human urine revealed significant differences in expression levels in the two media; significant down-regulation of genes encoding virulence factors such as hemolysin, lipid A, and capsular polysaccharides was observed in cells grown in urine. Clearly, divergent abilities of ABU E. coli and UPEC to exploit human urine as a niche for persistence and survival suggest that these key differences may be exploited for preventative and/or therapeutic approaches.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Feng Zhou ◽  
Meng-Ting Tao ◽  
Yu-Zhang He ◽  
Jian Sun ◽  
Ya-Hong Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Antimicrobial resistance among uropathogens has increased the rates of infection-related morbidity and mortality. Antofloxacin is a novel fluoroquinolone with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against urinary Gram-negative bacilli, such as Escherichia coli. This study monitored the in vivo efficacy of antofloxacin using bioluminescent imaging and determined pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) targets against E. coli isolates in a neutropenic murine thigh infection model. The PK properties were determined after subcutaneous administration of antofloxacin at 2.5, 10, 40, and 160 mg/kg of body weight. Following thigh infection, the mice were treated with 2-fold-increasing doses of antofloxacin from 2.5 to 80 mg/kg administered every 12 h. Efficacy was assessed by quantitative determination of the bacterial burdens in thigh homogenates and was compared with the bioluminescent density. Antofloxacin demonstrated both static and killing endpoints in relation to the initial burden against all study strains. The PK/PD index area under the concentration-time curve (AUC)/MIC correlated well with efficacy (R 2 = 0.92), and the dose-response relationship was relatively steep, as observed with escalating doses of antofloxacin. The mean free drug AUC/MIC targets necessary to produce net bacterial stasis and 1-log10 and 2-log10 kill for each isolate were 38.7, 66.1, and 147.0 h, respectively. In vivo bioluminescent imaging showed a rapid decrease in the bioluminescent density at free drug AUC/MIC exposures that exceeded the stasis targets. The integration of these PD targets combined with the results of PK studies with humans will be useful in setting optimal dosing regimens for the treatment of urinary tract infections due to E. coli.


mBio ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Bielecki ◽  
Uthayakumar Muthukumarasamy ◽  
Denitsa Eckweiler ◽  
Agata Bielecka ◽  
Sarah Pohl ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTmRNA profiling of pathogens during the course of human infections gives detailed information on the expression levels of relevant genes that drive pathogenicity and adaptation and at the same time allows for the delineation of phylogenetic relatedness of pathogens that cause specific diseases. In this study, we used mRNA sequencing to acquire information on the expression ofEscherichia colipathogenicity genes during urinary tract infections (UTI) in humans and to assign the UTI-associatedE. coliisolates to different phylogenetic groups. Whereas thein vivogene expression profiles of the majority of genes were conserved among 21E. colistrains in the urine of elderly patients suffering from an acute UTI, the specific gene expression profiles of the flexible genomes was diverse and reflected phylogenetic relationships. Furthermore, genes transcribedin vivorelative to laboratory media included well-described virulence factors, small regulatory RNAs, as well as genes not previously linked to bacterial virulence. Knowledge on relevant transcriptional responses that drive pathogenicity and adaptation of isolates to the human host might lead to the introduction of a virulence typing strategy into clinical microbiology, potentially facilitating management and prevention of the disease.IMPORTANCEUrinary tract infections (UTI) are very common; at least half of all women experience UTI, most of which are caused by pathogenicEscherichia colistrains. In this study, we applied massive parallel cDNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to provide unbiased, deep, and accurate insight into the nature and the dimension of the uropathogenicE. coligene expression profile during an acute UTI within the human host. This work was undertaken to identify key players in physiological adaptation processes and, hence, potential targets for new infection prevention and therapy interventions specifically aimed at sabotaging bacterial adaptation to the human host.


2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 1572-1578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Nielsen ◽  
Pia Dynesen ◽  
Preben Larsen ◽  
Lotte Jakobsen ◽  
Paal S. Andersen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCathelicidin (LL-37) and human β-defensin 1 (hBD-1) are important components of the innate defense in the urinary tract. The aim of this study was to characterize whether these peptides are important for developing uncomplicatedEscherichia coliurinary tract infections (UTIs). This was investigated by comparing urinary peptide levels of UTI patients during and after infection to those of controls, as well as characterizing the fecal flora of participants with respect to susceptibility to LL-37 andin vivovirulence. Forty-seven UTI patients and 50 controls who had never had a UTI were included. Participants were otherwise healthy, premenopausal, adult women. LL-37 MIC levels were compared for fecalE. coliclones from patients and controls and were also compared based on phylotypes (A, B1, B2, and D).In vivovirulence was investigated in the murine UTI model by use of selected fecal isolates from patients and controls. On average, UTI patients had significantly more LL-37 in urine during infection than postinfection, and patient LL-37 levels postinfection were significantly lower than those of controls. hBD-1 showed similar urine levels for UTI patients and controls. FecalE. coliisolates from controls had higher LL-37 susceptibility than fecal and UTIE. coliisolates from UTI patients.In vivostudies showed a high level of virulence of fecalE. coliisolates from both patients and controls and showed no difference in virulence correlated with the LL-37 MIC level. The results indicate that the concentration of LL-37 in the urinary tract and low susceptibility to LL-37 may increase the likelihood of UTI in a complex interplay between host and pathogen attributes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 1749-1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Beatson ◽  
Nouri L. Ben Zakour ◽  
Makrina Totsika ◽  
Brian M. Forde ◽  
Rebecca E. Watts ◽  
...  

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, withEscherichia coliresponsible for >80% of all cases. One extreme of UTI is asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which occurs as an asymptomatic carrier state that resembles commensalism. To understand the evolution and molecular mechanisms that underpin ABU, the genome of the ABUE. colistrain VR50 was sequenced. Analysis of the complete genome indicated that it most resemblesE. coliK-12, with the addition of a 94-kb genomic island (GI-VR50-pheV), eight prophages, and multiple plasmids. GI-VR50-pheVhas a mosaic structure and contains genes encoding a number of UTI-associated virulence factors, namely, Afa (afimbrial adhesin), two autotransporter proteins (Ag43 and Sat), and aerobactin. We demonstrated that the presence of this island in VR50 confers its ability to colonize the murine bladder, as a VR50 mutant with GI-VR50-pheVdeleted was attenuated in a mouse model of UTIin vivo. We established that Afa is the island-encoded factor responsible for this phenotype using two independent deletion (Afa operon and AfaE adhesin) mutants.E. coliVR50afaand VR50afaEdisplayed significantly decreased ability to adhere to human bladder epithelial cells. In the mouse model of UTI, VR50afaand VR50afaEdisplayed reduced bladder colonization compared to wild-type VR50, similar to the colonization level of the GI-VR50-pheVmutant. Our study suggests thatE. coliVR50 is a commensal-like strain that has acquired fitness factors that facilitate colonization of the human bladder.


2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Watts ◽  
Makrina Totsika ◽  
Victoria L. Challinor ◽  
Amanda N. Mabbett ◽  
Glen C. Ulett ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe molecular mechanisms that define asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU)Escherichia colicolonization of the human urinary tract remain to be properly elucidated. Here, we utilize ABUE. colistrain 83972 as a model to dissect the contribution of siderophores to iron acquisition, growth, fitness, and colonization of the urinary tract. We show thatE. coli83972 produces enterobactin, salmochelin, aerobactin, and yersiniabactin and examine the role of these systems using mutants defective in siderophore biosynthesis and uptake. Enterobactin and aerobactin contributed most to total siderophore activity and growth in defined iron-deficient medium. No siderophores were detected in an 83972 quadruple mutant deficient in all four siderophore biosynthesis pathways; this mutant did not grow in defined iron-deficient medium but grew in iron-limited pooled human urine due to iron uptake via the FecA ferric citrate receptor. In a mixed 1:1 growth assay with strain 83972, there was no fitness disadvantage of the 83972 quadruple biosynthetic mutant, demonstrating its capacity to act as a “cheater” and utilize siderophores produced by the wild-type strain for iron uptake. An 83972 enterobactin/salmochelin double receptor mutant was outcompeted by 83972 in human urine and the mouse urinary tract, indicating a role for catecholate receptors in urinary tract colonization.


mBio ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Walters ◽  
M. Chelsea Lane ◽  
Patrick D. Vigil ◽  
Sara N. Smith ◽  
Seth T. Walk ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe urinary tract is one of the most frequent sites of bacterial infection in humans. UropathogenicEscherichia coli(UPEC) strains are the leading cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and are responsible for greater than 80% of uncomplicated cases in adults. Infection of the urinary tract occurs in an ascending manner, with colonization of the bladder leading to possible kidney infection and bacteremia. The goal of this study was to examine the population dynamics of UPECin vivousing a murine model of ascending UTI. To track individual UPEC lineages within a host, we constructed 10 isogenic clones of UPEC strain CFT073 by inserting unique signature tag sequences between thepstSandglmSgenes at the attTn7 chromosomal site. Mice were transurethrally inoculated with a mixture containing equal numbers of unique clones. After 4 and 48 h, the tags present in the bladders, kidneys, and spleens of infected mice were enumerated using tag-specific primers and quantitative real-time PCR. The results indicated that kidney infection and bacteremia associated with UTI are most likely the result of multiple rounds of ascension and dissemination from motile UPEC subpopulations, with a distinct bottleneck existing between the kidney and bloodstream. The abundance of tagged lineages became more variable as infection progressed, especially after bacterial ascension to the upper urinary tract. Analysis of the population kinetics of UPEC during UTI revealed metapopulation dynamics, with lineages that constantly increased and decreased in abundance as they migrated from one organ to another.IMPORTANCEUrinary tract infections are some of the most common infections affecting humans, andEscherichia coliis the primary cause in most uncomplicated cases. These infections occur in an ascending manner, with bacteria traveling from the bladder to the kidneys and potentially the bloodstream. Little is known about the spatiotemporal population dynamics of uropathogenicE. coliwithin a host. Here we describe a novel approach for tracking lineages of isogenic taggedE. colistrains within a murine host by the use of quantitative real-time PCR. Understanding thein vivopopulation dynamics and the factors that shape the bacterial population may prove to be of significant value in the development of novel vaccines and drug therapies.


2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 1376-1381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphaël Lepeule ◽  
Etienne Ruppé ◽  
Patrick Le ◽  
Laurent Massias ◽  
Françoise Chau ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe investigated the efficiency of the cephamycin cefoxitin as an alternative to carbapenems for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) due toEscherichia coliproducing CTX-M-type extended-spectrum β-lactamases. The susceptible, UTI-inducingE. coliCFT073-RR strain and its transconjugant CFT073-RR Tc (pblaCTX-M-15), harboring ablaCTX-M-15carrying-plasmid, were used for all experiments. MICs of cefoxitin (FOX), ceftriaxone (CRO), imipenem (IMP), and ertapenem (ETP) for CFT073-RR and CFT073-RR Tc (pblaCTX-M-15) were 4 and 4, 0.125 and 512, 0.5 and 0.5, and 0.016 and 0.032 μg/ml, respectively. Bactericidal activity was similarly achievedin vitroagainst the two strains after 3 h of exposure to concentrations of FOX, IMI, and ETP that were 2 times the MIC, whereas CRO was not bactericidal against CFT073-RR Tc (pblaCTX-M-15). The frequencies of spontaneous mutants of the 2 strains were not higher for FOX than for IMP or ETP. In the murine model of UTIs, mice infected for 5 days were treated over 24 h. Therapeutic regimens in mice (200 mg/kg of body weight every 3 h or 4 h for FOX, 70 mg/kg every 6 h for CRO, 100 mg/kg every 2 h for IMP, and 100 mg/kg every 4 h for ETP) were chosen in order to reproduce the percentage of time that free-drug concentrations above the MIC are obtained in humans with standard regimens. All antibiotic regimens produced a significant reduction in bacterial counts (greater than 2 log10CFU) in kidneys and bladders for both strains (P< 0.001) without selecting resistant mutantsin vivo, but the reduction obtained with CRO against CFT073-RR Tc (pblaCTX-M-15) in kidneys was significantly lower than that obtained with FOX. In conclusion, FOX appears to be an effective therapeutic alternative to carbapenems for the treatment of UTIs due to CTX-M-producingE. coli.


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