1887

Abstract

Over the last 35 years in the UK, the burden of Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) O157:H7 infection has, during different periods of time, been associated with five different sub-lineages (1983–1995, Ia, I/IIa and I/IIb; 1996–2014, Ic; and 2015–2018, IIb). The acquisition of a -encoding bacteriophage by these five sub-lineages appears to have coincided with their respective emergences. The Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) system was used to sequence, characterize and compare the -encoding prophages harboured by each sub-lineage to investigate the integration of this key virulence factor. The -encoding prophages from each of the lineages causing clinical disease in the UK were all different, including the two UK sub-lineages (Ia and I/IIa) circulating concurrently and causing severe disease in the early 1980s. Comparisons between the encoding prophage in sub-lineages I/IIb and IIb revealed similarity to the prophage commonly found to encode , and the same site of bacteriophage integration () as -encoding prophage. These data suggest independent acquisition of previously unobserved -encoding phage is more likely to have contributed to the emergence of STEC O157:H7 sub-lineages in the UK than intra-UK lineage to lineage phage transmission. In contrast, the -encoding prophage showed a high level of similarity across lineages and time, consistent with the model of being present in the common ancestor to extant STEC O157:H7 and maintained by vertical inheritance in the majority of the population. Studying the nature of the -encoding bacteriophage contributes to our understanding of the emergence of highly pathogenic strains of STEC O157:H7.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    • Principle Award Recipient: Daniel A Yara
  • National Institute for Health Research (Award 109524)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Timothy J Dallman
  • National Institute for Health Research (Award 109524)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Claire Jenkins
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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2020-02-25
2024-10-04
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