Escherichia coli O104:H4

Escherichia coli O104:H4 is a rare enterohemorrhagic strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli, and the cause of the 2011 Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak.^[1] The "O" in the serological classification identifies the cell wall lipopolysaccharide antigen, and the "H" identifies the flagella antigen.

Analysis of genomic sequences obtained by BGI Shenzhen show that the O104:H4 outbreak strain is an enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC or EAggEC) type that has acquired Shiga toxin genes, presumably by horizontal gene transfer.^[2][3][4] Genome assembly and copy number analysis both confirmed that two copies of the Shiga toxin stx2 prophage gene cluster are a distinctive characteristic of the genome of the O104:H4 outbreak strain.^[5][6] The O104:H4 strain is characterized by the following genetic markers:^[6][7]

• Shiga toxin stx2 positive,
• terE positive (tellurite resistance gene cluster),
• eae negative (intimin adherence gene),
• β-lactamases ampC, ampD, ampE, ampG, ampH are present.

The European Commission (EC) integrated approach to food safety^[8] defines a case of Shiga-like toxin producing E. coli (STEC) diarrhea caused by O104:H4 by an acute onset of diarrhea or bloody diarrhea together with the detection of the Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) or the Shiga gene stx2.^[9] Prior to the 2011 outbreak, only one case identified as O104:H4 had been observed, in a woman in South Korea in 2005.^[10]

References

1. ^ Mellmann, A.; Harmsen, D.; Cummings, C. A.; Zentz, E. B.; Leopold, S. R.; et al. (2011). "Prospective Genomic Characterization of the German Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O104:H4 Outbreak by Rapid Next Generation Sequencing Technology". PLoS ONE 6 (7): e22751. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022751. 
2. ^ "BGI Sequences Genome of the Deadly E. coli in Germany and Reveals New Super-Toxic Strain". BGI. 2011-06-02. http://www.genomics.cn/en/news_show.php?type=show&id=644. Retrieved 2011-06-02. 
3. ^ David Tribe (2011-06-02). "BGI Sequencing news: German EHEC strain is a chimera created by horizontal gene transfer". http://www.biofortified.org/2011/06/bgi-sequencing-news-german-ehec-strain-is-a-chimera-created-by-horizontal-gene-transfer/. Retrieved 2011-06-02. 
4. ^ Maev Kennedy and agencies. "E. coli outbreak: WHO says bacterium is a new strain". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/02/e-coli-outbreak-who-bacterium-new-strain. Retrieved 2011-06-04. 
5. ^ "BGI releases the complete map of the Germany E. coli O104 genome and attributed the strain as a category of Shiga toxin-producing enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (STpEAEC)". BGI. 2011-06-16. http://www.genomics.cn/en/news_show.php?type=show&id=660. Retrieved 2011-06-20. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Copy number analysis of German outbreak strain E. Coli EHEC O104:H4". Johannes Kepler University of Linz. 2011-06-11. http://www.bioinf.jku.at/research/ehec/ehec.html. Retrieved 2011-06-15. 
7. ^ "Characterization of EHEC O104:H4". Robert Koch Institute. 2011-06-03. http://www.rki.de/cln_178/nn_217400/EN/Home/EHECO104,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/EHECO104.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-15. 
8. ^ "The EU integrated approach to food safety". http://ec.europa.eu/food/intro_en.htm. 
9. ^ "Case Definition for diarrhoea and haemolytic uremic syndrome caused by O104:H4". European Commission. 2011-06-03. http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/docs/STEC-HUS_CaseDefinition_03062011_en.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-16. 
10. ^ Bae WK, Lee YK, Cho MS, Ma SK, Kim SW, Kim NH, et al.. A case of haemolytic uremic syndrome caused by Escherichia coli O104:H4. Yonsei Medical Journal. 2006 Jun 30;47(3):473–9. doi:10.3349/ymj.2006.47.3.437. PMID 16807997.