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Volume 9, Issue 4

Genomic characterization of enterohaemolysin-encoding haemolytic of animal and human origin Open Access

Abstract

Enterohaemolysin (Ehx) and alpha-haemolysin are virulence-associated factors (VAFs) causing the haemolytic phenotype in . It has been shown that chromosomally and plasmid-encoded alpha-haemolysin are characteristic of specific pathotypes, virulence-associated factors and hosts. However, the prevalence of alpha- and enterohaemolysin does not overlap in the majority of pathotypes. Therefore, this study focuses on the characterization of the haemolytic population associated with multiple pathotypes in human and animal infectious diseases. Using a genomics approach, we investigated characteristic features of the enterohaemolysin-encoding strains to identify factors differentiating enterohaemolysin-positive from alpha-haemolysin-positive populations. To shed light on the functionality of Ehx subtypes, we analysed Ehx-coding genes and inferred EhxA phylogeny. The two haemolysins are associated with a different repertoire of adhesins, iron acquisition or toxin systems. Alpha-haemolysin is predominantly found in uropathogenic (UPEC) and predicted to be chromosomally encoded, or nonpathogenic and undetermined pathotypes and typically predicted to be plasmid-encoded. Enterohaemolysin is mainly associated with Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) and enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) and predicted to be plasmid-encoded. Both types of haemolysin are found in atypical enteropathogenic (aEPEC). Moreover, we identified a new EhxA subtype present exclusively in genomes with VAFs characteristic of nonpathogenic . This study reveals a complex relationship between haemolytic of diverse pathotypes, providing a framework for understanding the potential role of haemolysin in pathogenesis.

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  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): adhesins , alpha-haemolysin , EhxA , enterohaemolysin , Escherichia coli , haemolytic , iron acquisition and toxin
© 2023 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2023-04-27
2024-05-18
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Genomic characterization of enterohaemolysin-encoding haemolytic Escherichia coli of animal and human origin
M Gen 9, 000999 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000999
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000999
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000999
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