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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2009, p. 3469-3481, Vol. 191, No. 11
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01717-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Genomic Islands of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Contribute to Virulence{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Amanda L. Lloyd, Tiffany A. Henderson, Patrick D. Vigil, and Harry L. T. Mobley*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

Received 8 December 2008/ Accepted 19 March 2009

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strain CFT073 contains 13 large genomic islands ranging in size from 32 kb to 123 kb. Eleven of these genomic islands were individually deleted from the genome, and nine isogenic mutants were tested for their ability to colonize the CBA/J mouse model of ascending urinary tract infection. Three genomic island mutants ({Delta}PAI-aspV, {Delta}PAI-metV, and {Delta}PAI-asnT) were significantly outcompeted by wild-type CFT073 in the bladders and/or kidneys following transurethral cochallenge (P ≤ 0.0139). The PAI-metV mutant also showed significant attenuation in the ability to independently colonize the kidneys (P = 0.0011). Specific genes within these islands contributed to the observed phenotype, including a previously uncharacterized iron acquisition cluster, fbpABCD (c0294 to c0297 [c0294-97]), autotransporter, picU (c0350), and RTX family exoprotein, tosA (c0363) in the PAI-aspV island. The double deletion mutant with deletions in both copies of the fbp iron acquisition operon ({Delta}c0294-97 {Delta}c2518-15) was significantly outcompeted by wild-type CFT073 in cochallenge. Strains with mutations in a type VI secretion system within the PAI-metV island did not show attenuation. The attenuation of the PAI-metV island was localized to genes c3405-10, encoding a putative phosphotransferase transport system, which is common to UPEC and avian pathogenic E. coli strains but absent from E. coli K-12. We have shown that, in addition to encoding virulence genes, genomic islands contribute to the overall fitness of UPEC strain CFT073 in vivo.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, 5641 Medical Science Building II, 1150 West Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Phone: (734) 763-1466. Fax: (734) 764-7163. E-mail: hmobley{at}umich.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 27 March 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2009, p. 3469-3481, Vol. 191, No. 11
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01717-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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