Subtyping Virulence Genes of Pathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Beef Cattle and Clinical Cases in Alberta
Abstract
The objective of this study was to subtype virulence genes of pathogenic E. coli isolated from cattle and human clinical cases in western Canada. We identified a variety of virulence profiles among strains and most serogroups presented a dominant genotype. Many O157 and non-O157 isolates lacked stx genes; the absence was greater in non-O157 and O157:nonH7 than in O157:H7 strains. Overall, virulence profile of cattle isolates were very similar to those reported in clinical cases, although it was not possible to establish a clear relationship between strains’ genotype and season collected or place-of-origin. Monitoring stx (e.g. stx1a and stx2a) and eae (e.g. λ/γ1-eae) subtypes can be a valuable tool for risk assessment and prediction of disease outcome. Microbial contamination may occur throughout the food production chain. Therefore, monitoring pathogenic E. coli is crucial to ensure food safety across the farm-to-fork scope.
Description
Keywords
Microbiology, Biology--Molecular, Public Health
Citation
Ferreira Tostes, R. (2016). Subtyping Virulence Genes of Pathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Beef Cattle and Clinical Cases in Alberta (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27931