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Analysis of a uropathogenic Escherichia coli clonal group by multilocus sequence typing
Sara Y Tartof1, Owen D Solberg, Amee R Manges
1Divisions of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases and Immunity, 140 Warren Hall, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
|December 8, 2005
Summary
Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) offers a scalable alternative for typing pathogenic Escherichia coli. This study found MLST more discriminatory than ERIC2 PCR but less so than PFGE for uropathogenic E. coli epidemiology.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Epidemiology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Existing methods for typing pathogenic Escherichia coli have limitations in resolution, interpretability, and scalability.
- Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) presents a promising alternative due to its potential for broad applicability.
- Understanding the effectiveness of MLST in specific epidemiological contexts, such as uropathogenic E. coli, is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the discriminatory power of a housekeeping gene-based MLST method for uropathogenic E. coli.
- To compare the performance of MLST against established methods like enterobacterial repeat intergenic consensus (ERIC2) PCR, serogrouping, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
Main Methods:
- Applied a previously established MLST method to a collection of 45 well-characterized uropathogenic E. coli isolates.
- Compared MLST results with those obtained from ERIC2 PCR, serogrouping, and PFGE.
Main Results:
- Identified 17 distinct multilocus sequence types (STs) among the 45 isolates.
- A significant group (ST69 complex, 22 isolates) corresponded to strains previously defined as clonal group A (CgA) by ERIC2 PCR, but exhibited diversity in serogroups and PFGE types.
- MLST demonstrated higher discriminatory power than ERIC2 PCR but lower than PFGE for this specific pathogen group.
Conclusions:
- MLST provides a valuable tool for the epidemiological study of uropathogenic E. coli, offering improved resolution over ERIC2 PCR.
- While PFGE remains more discriminatory, MLST offers a balance of scalability and resolving power.
- The findings highlight the utility of MLST for tracking E. coli strains across different sources, including human and animal isolates.
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