INTRODUCTION: Pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli have been clearly identified as the causative agents of extraintestinal and diarrheal infections; however, the etiopathogenic role of E. coli in other conditions, including colorectal cancer, remains unclear. METHODS: This study aimed to characterize mucosal E. coli isolates (n = 246) from 61 neoplasia patients and 20 healthy controls for the presence of 35 genetic determinants encoding known virulence factors. RESULTS: Virulence determinants encoding invasin (ibeA), siderophore receptor (iroN), S-fimbriae (sfa), and genotoxin (usp) were more prevalent among E. coli isolated from patients with neoplasia compared to the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the prevalence of these virulence determinants was increased in more advanced neoplasia stages (p adj < 0.0125). Compared to patients with advanced colorectal adenoma and carcinoma, the ibeA gene was rarely found in the control group and among patients with non-advanced adenoma (p < 0.05), indicating its potential as the advanced-neoplasia biomarker. Patients with neoplasia frequently had E. coli strains with at least one of the abovementioned virulence factors, whereby specific combinations of these virulence factors were found. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that E. coli strains isolated from patients with colorectal neoplasia possess several virulence factors, which could contribute to the development of neoplastic processes in the large intestine.

• Klíčová slova
• Escherichia coli, cancer, colorectal neoplasia, genotoxin, ibeA, invasion, virulence factors,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) strains are the causative agents of severe foodborne diseases in both humans and animals. In this study, porcine pathogenic E. coli strains (n = 277) as well as porcine commensal strains (n = 188) were tested for their susceptibilities to 34 bacteriocin monoproducers to identify the most suitable bacteriocin types inhibiting porcine pathogens. Under in vitro conditions, the set of pathogenic E. coli strains was found to be significantly more susceptible to the majority of tested bacteriocins than commensal E. coli. Based on the production of bacteriocins with specific activity against pathogens, three potentially probiotic commensal E. coli strains of human origin were selected. These strains were found to be able to outcompete ETEC strains expressing F4 or F18 fimbriae in liquid culture and also decreased the severity and duration of diarrhea in piglets during experimental ETEC infection as well as pathogen numbers on the last day of in vivo experimentation. While the extents of the probiotic effect were different for each strain, the cocktail of all three strains showed the most pronounced beneficial effects, suggesting synergy between the tested E. coli strains. IMPORTANCE Increasing levels of antibiotic resistance among bacteria also increase the need for alternatives to conventional antibiotic treatment. Pathogenic Escherichia coli represents a major diarrheic infectious agent of piglets in their postweaning period; however, available measures to control these infections are limited. This study describes three novel E. coli strains producing antimicrobial compounds (bacteriocins) that actively inhibit a majority of toxigenic E. coli strains. The beneficial effect of three potentially probiotic E. coli strains was demonstrated under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The novel probiotic candidates may be used as prophylaxis during piglets' postweaning period to overcome common infections caused by E. coli.

• Klíčová slova
• E. coli, ETEC, Escherichia, STEC, bacteriocin, pig, probiotic,
• MeSH
• bakteriální toxiny * metabolismus   MeSH
• bakteriociny metabolismus   terapeutické užití   MeSH
• Escherichia coli * účinky léků   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• faktory virulence genetika   MeSH
• feces mikrobiologie   MeSH
• infekce vyvolané Escherichia coli mikrobiologie   prevence a kontrola   veterinární   MeSH
• nemoci prasat mikrobiologie   prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• prasata MeSH
• probiotika terapeutické užití   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• randomizované kontrolované studie veterinární MeSH
• Názvy látek
• bakteriální toxiny * MeSH
• bakteriociny MeSH
• faktory virulence MeSH

Colicin U is a protein produced by the bacterium Shigella boydii (serovars 1 and 8). It exerts antibacterial activity against strains of the enterobacterial genera Shigella and Escherichia Here, we report that colicin U forms voltage-dependent pores in planar lipid membranes; its single-pore conductance was found to be about 22 pS in 1 M KCl at pH 6 under 80 mV in asolectin bilayers. In agreement with the high degree of homology between their C-terminal domains, colicin U shares some pore characteristics with the related colicins A and B. Colicin U pores are strongly pH dependent, and as we deduced from the activity of colicin U in planar membranes at different protein concentrations, they have a monomeric pore structure. However, in contrast to related colicins, we observed a very low cationic selectivity of colicin U pores (1.5/1 of K+/Cl- at pH 6) along with their atypical voltage gating. Finally, using nonelectrolytes, we determined the inner diameter of the pores to be in the range of 0.7 to 1 nm, which is similar to colicin Ia, but with a considerably different inner profile.IMPORTANCE Currently, a dramatic increase in antibiotic resistance is driving researchers to find new antimicrobial agents. The large group of toxins called bacteriocins appears to be very promising from this point of view, especially because their narrow killing spectrum allows specific targeting against selected bacterial strains. Colicins are a subgroup of bacteriocins that act on Gram-negative bacteria. To date, some colicins are commercially used for the treatment of animals (1) and tested as a component of engineered species-specific antimicrobial peptides, which are studied for the potential treatment of humans (2). Here, we present a thorough single-molecule study of colicin U which leads to a better understanding of its mode of action. It extends the range of characterized colicins available for possible future medical applications.

• Klíčová slova
• Shigella boydii, black lipid membrane, colicin U, ion-selectivity, membrane pores,
• MeSH
• buněčná membrána metabolismus   MeSH
• chlorid draselný farmakologie   MeSH
• gating iontového kanálu MeSH
• koliciny metabolismus   MeSH
• koncentrace vodíkových iontů MeSH
• lipidové dvojvrstvy metabolismus   MeSH
• permeabilita MeSH
• Shigella boydii metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• chlorid draselný MeSH
• koliciny MeSH
• lipidové dvojvrstvy MeSH

Escherichia albertii is a recently discovered species with a limited number of well characterized strains. The aim of this study was to characterize four of the E. albertii strains, which were among 41 identified Escherichia strains isolated from the feces of living animals on James Ross Island, Antarctica, and Isla Magdalena, Patagonia. Sequencing of 16S rDNA, automated ribotyping, and rep-PCR were used to identify the four E. albertii isolates. Phylogenetic analyses based on multi-locus sequence typing showed these isolates to be genetically most similar to the members of E. albertii phylogroup G3. These isolates encoded several virulence factors including those, which are characteristic of E. albertii (cytolethal distending toxin and intimin) as well as bacteriocin determinants that typically have a very low prevalence in E. coli strains (D, E7). Moreover, E. albertii protein extracts caused cell cycle arrest in human cell line A375, probably because of cytolethal distending toxin activity.

• Klíčová slova
• Antarctica, Escherichia albertii, bacteriocins, cytolethal distending toxin,
• MeSH
• Charadriiformes mikrobiologie   MeSH
• Escherichia genetika   izolace a purifikace   metabolismus   MeSH
• feces mikrobiologie   MeSH
• multilokusová sekvenční typizace veterinární   MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce veterinární   MeSH
• pulzní gelová elektroforéza veterinární   MeSH
• ribotypizace veterinární   MeSH
• RNA ribozomální 16S genetika   MeSH
• Spheniscidae mikrobiologie   MeSH
• tuleňovití mikrobiologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Antarktida MeSH
• Chile MeSH
• Názvy látek
• RNA ribozomální 16S MeSH

BACKGROUND: The study used a set of 407 human extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli strains (ExPEC) isolated from (1) skin and soft tissue infections, (2) respiratory infections, (3) intra-abdominal infections, and (4) genital smears. The set was tested for bacteriocin production, for prevalence of bacteriocin and virulence determinants, and for phylogenetic typing. Results obtained from the group of ExPEC strains were compared to data from our previously published analyses of 1283 fecal commensal E. coli strains. RESULTS: The frequency of bacteriocinogeny was significantly higher in the set of ExPEC strains (63.1 %), compared to fecal E. coli (54.2 %; p < 0.01). Microcin producers and microcin determinants dominated in ExPEC strains, while colicin producers and colicin determinants were more frequent in fecal E. coli (p < 0.01). Higher production of microcin M and lower production of microcin B17, colicin Ib, and Js was detected in the set of ExPEC strains. ExPEC strains had a significantly higher prevalence of phylogenetic group B2 (52.6 %) compared to fecal E. coli strains (38.3 %; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Human ExPEC strains were shown to differ from human fecal strains in a number of parameters including bacteriocin production, prevalence of several bacteriocin and virulence determinants, and prevalence of phylogenetic groups. Differences in these parameters were also identified within subgroups of ExPEC strains of diverse origin. While some microcin determinants (mM, mH47) were associated with virulent strains, other bacteriocin types (mB17, Ib, and Js) were associated with fecal flora.

• Klíčová slova
• Bacteriocinogeny, Colicin, Escherichia coli, ExPEC, Microcin, Virulence factor,
• MeSH
• bakteriální geny MeSH
• bakteriociny klasifikace   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• DNA bakterií genetika   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• dýchací soustava mikrobiologie   MeSH
• extraintestinální patogenní Escherichia coli genetika   izolace a purifikace   metabolismus   patogenita   MeSH
• faktory virulence genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• feces mikrobiologie   MeSH
• fylogeneze * MeSH
• gastrointestinální trakt mikrobiologie   MeSH
• infekce reprodukčního traktu mikrobiologie   MeSH
• infekce vyvolané Escherichia coli mikrobiologie   MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• koliciny metabolismus   MeSH
• kůže mikrobiologie   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• prevalence * MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• bakteriociny MeSH
• DNA bakterií MeSH
• faktory virulence MeSH
• koliciny MeSH
• microcin MeSH Prohlížeč