Phylogenetic analysis of inflammatory bowel disease associated Escherichia coli and the fimH virulence determinant

Abstract

MLST analysis suggested that E. coli isolated from IBD patients did not evolve from a unique ancestral background. Together with the fimH sequence we conclude that AIEC represent a group of bacteria that have been able to take advantage of an "IBD microenvironment" and likely shares common genes with extraintestinal pathogens like uro-pathogenic CFT073 and avian-pathogenic O1:K1:H7 E. coli. Future research should focus on genes that are unique to AIEC.