Virulence of Shigella flexneri hybrids expressing Escherichia coli somatic antigens

The genes controlling either Escherichia coli somatic antigen 8 or 25 were conjugally transferred to virulent Shigella flexneri 2a recipients to determine whether the aquisition of these antigens would affect the virulence of the resulting hybrid. A high proportion of such hybrids were found to be rough and hence were avirulent. Some smooth S. flexneri hybrids which replaced their native group antigens with E. coli factor 25 were still virulent in the animal models employed. All S. flexneri O-8 hybrids were uniformly avirulent. Our finding, that S. flexneri hybrids with the chemically divergent E. coli O-8 repeat unit are avirulent whereas some hybrids with the chemically related O-25 repeat unit retain virulence, suggests that the chemical composition and structure of the O side chain of somatic antigens may represent one determining factor for bacterial penetration of mucosal epithelial cells, the primary step in the pathogenesis of bacillary dysentery.