Plasmid and chromosomal elements involved in the pathogenesis of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli

Attaching and effacing (A/E) intestinal lesions are produced by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), and RDEC-1, a pathogen of weanling rabbits. We recently identified a chromosomal locus (eae [E. coli A/E]) which is required for A/E activity in a wild-type EPEC strain. Sequences homologous to those of an eae gene probe were detected in EPEC, RDEC-1, and EHEC isolates. We report here that the eae gene is chromosomally encoded in all EPEC and EHEC strains tested and in RDEC-1. In addition, the eae probe was found to be 100% sensitive and 98% specific in detecting E. coli of EPEC serogroups that demonstrate A/E activity. Ten percent of E. coli of EPEC serogroups that hybridized with the eae probe and produced A/E activity did not hybridize with the EAF (EPEC adherence factor) probe, a plasmid-associated diagnostic probe which is currently used to identify EPEC. In addition to A/E factors, plasmid-associated adhesins also contribute to the pathogenesis of EPEC and RDEC-1. To further investigate the role of plasmid-associated adherence, a hybrid RDEC-1-EPEC strain containing the adherence plasmid of an EPEC strain in the A/E background of RDEC-1 was constructed. This hybrid strain, unlike the parent RDEC-1 strain, produced A/E lesions on human tissue culture cells, which suggests that the EPEC adherence plasmid provides tissue specificity to the hybrid strain and that the A/E factors of RDEC-1 are not host restricted.