TY - JOUR
T1 - Phylogenetic distribution of traits associated with plant colonization in Escherichia coli
AU - Méric, Guillaume
AU - Kemsley, E Katherine
AU - Falush, Daniel
AU - Saggers, Elizabeth J
AU - Lucchini, Sacha
N1 - © 2012 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Plants are increasingly considered as secondary reservoirs for commensal and pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, but the ecological and functional factors involved in this association are not clear. To address this question, we undertook a comparative approach combining phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses of E. coli isolates from crops and mammalian hosts. Phenotypic profiling revealed significant differences according to the source of isolation. Notably, isolates from plants displayed higher biofilm and extracellular matrix production and higher frequency of utilization of sucrose and the aromatic compound p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. However, when compared with mammalian-associated strains, they reached lower growth yields on many C-sources commonly used by E. coli. Strikingly, we observed a strong association between phenotypes and E. coli phylogenetic groups. Strains belonging to phylogroup B1 were more likely to harbour traits indicative of a higher ability to colonize plants, whereas phylogroup A and B2 isolates displayed phenotypes linked to an animal-associated lifestyle. This work provides clear indications that E. coli phylogroups are specifically affected by niche-specific selective pressures, and provides an explanation on why E. coli population structures vary in natural environments, implying that different lineages in E. coli have substantially different transmission ecology.
AB - Plants are increasingly considered as secondary reservoirs for commensal and pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, but the ecological and functional factors involved in this association are not clear. To address this question, we undertook a comparative approach combining phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses of E. coli isolates from crops and mammalian hosts. Phenotypic profiling revealed significant differences according to the source of isolation. Notably, isolates from plants displayed higher biofilm and extracellular matrix production and higher frequency of utilization of sucrose and the aromatic compound p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. However, when compared with mammalian-associated strains, they reached lower growth yields on many C-sources commonly used by E. coli. Strikingly, we observed a strong association between phenotypes and E. coli phylogenetic groups. Strains belonging to phylogroup B1 were more likely to harbour traits indicative of a higher ability to colonize plants, whereas phylogroup A and B2 isolates displayed phenotypes linked to an animal-associated lifestyle. This work provides clear indications that E. coli phylogroups are specifically affected by niche-specific selective pressures, and provides an explanation on why E. coli population structures vary in natural environments, implying that different lineages in E. coli have substantially different transmission ecology.
KW - Animals
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Biofilms
KW - Carbon
KW - Escherichia coli
KW - Escherichia coli Infections
KW - Extracellular Matrix Proteins
KW - Metabolome
KW - Phylogeny
KW - Plants
KW - Journal Article
KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02852.x
U2 - 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02852.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02852.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 22934605
SN - 1462-2912
VL - 15
SP - 487
EP - 501
JO - Environmental Microbiology
JF - Environmental Microbiology
IS - 2
ER -