E. coli Flashcards
Describing E coli
- Gram negative rods (red stain)
- Lactose- fermenting
- Facultatively anaerobic- large bowel
- Often motile
- Numerous serotype
- Causes different types of diseases
- Constituent part of large bowel microbiota of many animals inc. humans
- In other animals too
Complex ecology of E. coli- ‘ One health’ ecology approach
- Transmission of E coli between animals, humans and the environment, including pathogenic and antibiotic resistant strains
- Illustrates the challenges of controlling disease and the spread of resistance

E coli under the microscope

gram stain results
gram negative rods

Identifying E coli in the laboratories
- E.coli and other Enterobacteriaceae can use the sugar lactose as an energy source à producing lactic acid as a waste product
- MacConkey agar contains lactose and a pH indicators that goes red with acid pH
- E coli and other Enterobacteriaceae grow as pink colonies
- Non lactose fermenters grow as yellow colonies

antigens found on E.coli
- O
- H
- K
- F antigens
E.coli can ve indentified by
- serology using antibodis to detect bacterial surface antigens
- metabolic profiling variation in biochemical pathways
genomic divery
serological antigens of E.coli
- PAMPs
- Body can recognise PAMPS e.g. LPS, flagella, cell membrane, fimbriae and capsule
- Different strains of E.coli will have different molecular patterns of LPS- may not be recognised

Genetic diversity of E.coli
1509 E coli strains isolated from blood cultures and examined by whole genome sequencing
- Overall there are over 70,000 genes identified in all isolates, but only 885 genes present in all 1509 isolates
E.coli in health and disease
- Normal part of large bowel microbiota in humans and many other animals
- Possibly protects against invasion by pathogenic species such as Salmonella
diseases caused by e.coli
- Intestinal infections (diarrhoea)
- Toxin-mediated disease
- Extra-intestinal infections
- UTI
- Intra-abdominal
- Biliary tract
- Bloodstream infection
- Neonatal meningitis

E.coli diarrhoea
6 pathotypes of diarrhoeagenic E coli
- EPEC and EIEC are most common amount young children in developing world
- EAggEC re most common among immunocompromised persons

Enterotoxigenic E coli (ETEC)
- Important cause of bacterial diarrhoeal illness
- Major cause of diarrhoea in lower-income countries- especially among children
- Leading cause of travellers diarrhoea
- Faeco-oral transmission
- Onset is 1-3 days after exposure and usually lasts 3-4 days
ETEC virulence factors
Produces 2 toxins
- Heat stable toxin (ST)
- Heat- labile toxin (LT
- Illness cause by each toxin is similar
- They stimulate the lining of the intestine causing them to secrete excessive fluid producing watery diarrhoea and abdominal cramping
less common side effects of ETEC
- Fever
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Chills
- Loss of appetite
- Headache
- Muscle ache
- bloating
Enteropathogenic E coli (EPEC)
- Causes the localised effacement of microvilli and intimately attaches to the host cell surface, forming characteristic attaching and effacing (A E) lesions
- Intimate attachment requires the type III-mediated secretion of bacterial proteins, several of which are translocated directly into infected cells, including the bacteria’s own receptor (Tir)
- Binding to this membrane bound, pathogen-derived protein permits EPC to intimately attach to mammalian cells
- The translocate EPEC proteins also activate signalling pathways within the underlying cells- reorganisation of the host actin cytoskeleton and the formation of pedestal-like structures beneath the adherent bacteria
Insertion of transloacted intimin receptor Tir) into enterocyte cell membrane and binding to intima

Shiga toxin-producing Ecoli (STEC)
- First outbreak reported in 1982
- Causes haemorrhagic colitis (bloody diarrhoea) and haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS- triad of acute renal failure, haemolytic anaemia and thrombocytopenia)
symptoms and signs of Shiga toxin-producing Ecoli (STEC)
- Severe crampy abdominal pain
- Initially watery diarrhea
- Followed by grossly bloody diarrhea
- Little or no fever
Molecular action of Shiga toxin
- B sub-units of shiga toxin binds to Gb3 on host cell surface
- After binding, the toxin is endocytosed and transported to the goli apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum
- During the intracellular transport the A chain is cleaved into the small A2 fragment and the enzymatically active A1 fragment
- A fragments are kept together by a disulphide bond until the toxin reaches the ER, where the A1 fragment is released and translocated into the cytosol
- In the cytosol, the A1 part inactivates ribosomes thereby inhibiting protein synthesis, eventually resulting in death

what are extra-intestinal pathogenic E.coli (ExPEC)
- Strains of E coli capable of causing disease outside the intestinal tract
e. g. E coli urinary tract infections
e. g. E coli bloodstream infections
virulence factors of ExPEC
- Adhesins
- Iron acquisition system
- Protectins and invasins
- Toxins
- Others
Genesis of urinary tract infections
- Very common women but unusual in men
- Difference explained by anatomical differences between women and men
- Uropathogenic E coli transfer from the rectum to the urethra and then migrate to the bladder causing cystitis
cystis risk factor
- femal sex, history of UTI
- sexual acitvity
- vaginal infection
- diabetes, obesity, genetic susceptibility
clinical symptoms of cystisis
- frequent and urgent urination
- dysuria
- nocturia, hematuria, malaise