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Updated: May 11, 2026

The Citrobacter rodentium Mouse Model: Studying Pathogen and Host Contributions to Infectious Colitis
11:04

The Citrobacter rodentium Mouse Model: Studying Pathogen and Host Contributions to Infectious Colitis

Published on: February 19, 2013

Citrobacter rodentium is an unstable pathogen showing evidence of significant genomic flux

Nicola K Petty1, Theresa Feltwell, Derek Pickard

  • 1Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Plos Pathogens
|April 15, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Citrobacter rodentium exhibits genome instability due to recombination and mobile genetic elements, indicating it is a recently evolved bacterial pathogen. This instability is common across strains and likely occurred early in its evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Bacterial Pathogenesis
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Citrobacter rodentium is a mouse pathogen causing attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions.
  • It models human pathogens like enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC).
  • Previous work indicated C. rodentium's genome has characteristics of a newly evolved pathogen.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the genome instability of Citrobacter rodentium.
  • To examine the role of recombination and mobile genetic elements in its evolution.
  • To assess the representativeness of the ICC168 strain and the timing of mutations.

Main Methods:

  • Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
  • Sequencing of variable isolates.
  • Whole-genome transcriptome analysis.
  • Examination of mobile genetic elements.
  • Whole-genome sequencing of an additional strain (EX-33).

Main Results:

  • The C. rodentium genome is unstable, driven by repeat-mediated recombination and mobile genetic element transposition (e.g., prophages).
  • The EX-33 strain confirms ICC168 is representative of the species.
  • Most inactivating mutations are shared between strains, suggesting early evolutionary occurrence.

Conclusions:

  • Citrobacter rodentium is a recently evolved pathogen with an unstable genome.
  • Its evolution parallels that of other bacterial pathogens.
  • Its emergence may be linked to the development of inbred mice models.

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