Defining the Genetic Features of O-Antigen Biosynthesis Gene Cluster and Performance of an O-Antigen Serotyping Scheme for Escherichia albertii

• Main Authors: Hong Wang, Han Zheng, Qun Li, Yanmei Xu, Jianping Wang, Pengcheng Du, Xinqiong Li, Xiang Liu, Ling Zhang, Nianli Zou, Guodong Yan, Zhengdong Zhang, Huaiqi Jing, Jianguo Xu, Yanwen Xiong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-09-01
• Series: Frontiers in Microbiology
• Subjects: Escherichia albertii; O-AGC; serotype; antiserum; xTAG Luminex
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01857/full

Escherichia albertii is a newly described and emerging diarrheagenic pathogen responsible for outbreaks of gastroenteritis. Serotyping plays an important role in diagnosis and epidemiological studies for pathogens of public health importance. The diversity of O-antigen biosynthesis gene clusters (O-AGCs) provides the primary basis for serotyping. However, little is known about the distribution and diversity of O-AGCs of E. albertii strains. Here, we presented a complete sequence set for the O-AGCs from 52 E. albertii strains and identified seven distinct O-AGCs. Six of these were also found in 15 genomes of E. albertii strains deposited in the public database. Possession of wzy/wzx genes in each O-AGC strongly suggest that O-antigens of E. albertii were synthesized by the Wzx/Wzy-dependent pathway. Furthermore, we performed an O-antigen serotyping scheme for E. albertii based on specific antisera against seven O-antigens and a high throughput xTAG Luminex assay to simultaneously detect seven O-AGCs. Both methods accurately identified serotypes of 64 tested E. albertii strains. Our data revealed the high-level diversity of O-AGCs in E. albertii. We also provide valuable methods to reliably identify and serotype this bacterium.