Abstract
Many septicaemic Escherichia coli strains harbour CoIV virulence plasmids. This paper describes pO78V, a conjugative CoIV plasmid from an avian pathogenic E. coli strain that encodes type IV pili in addition to other virulence-related genes and tetracycline resistance. Plasmid location of type IV pili genes was demonstrated using Southern hybridization and expression of the pili was demonstrated using RT-PCR and phage sensitivity assays. This is a first report of a CoIV plasmid encoding type IV pili. Plasmid pO78V is a mosaic plasmid containing replicons and other genes typical to both Incl1 and IncFII groups. As type IV pili of Gram-negative bacteria are involved in several stages of infection, their presence on a ColV virulence plasmid could expand the repertoire of pathogenesis-related genes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 177-184 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Microbiology |
Volume | 149 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 2003 |