Skip to main content
PMC home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1996 Sep;64(9):3504–3511. doi: 10.1128/iai.64.9.3504-3511.1996

Escherichia coli F-18 and E. coli K-12 eda mutants do not colonize the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine.

N J Sweeney 1, D C Laux 1, P S Cohen 1
PMCID: PMC174255  PMID: 8751891

Abstract

The Escherichia coli human fecal isolates F-18 and K-12 are excellent colonizers of the streptomycin-treated mouse intestine. E. coli F-18 and E. coli K-12 eda mutants (unable to utilize glucuronate, galacturonate, and gluconate) were constructed by insertional mutagenesis. Neither the E. coli F-18 eda nor the E. coli K-12 eda mutant was able to colonize the streptomycin-treated mouse intestine, whether they were fed to mice together with their respective parental strains or alone. Complementation of the eda mutants with pTC190 (containing a functional E. coli K-12 eda gene) completely restored the colonization ability of both eda mutants. Relative to their parental strains, the E. coli F-18 eda mutant and the E. coli K-12 eda mutant grew poorly in cecal mucus isolated from mice fed either normal mouse chow or a synthetic diet containing sucrose as the sole carbon source, yet the mutants and parental strains demonstrated identical growth rates in minimal medium with glucose as the carbon source. E. coli F-18 edd eda and E. coli K-12 edd eda double mutants colonized the streptomycin-treated intestine when fed to mice alone; however, when fed simultaneously with their respective parental strains, they were poor colonizers. Since the edd gene is involved only in gluconate metabolism via the Entner-Doudoroff pathway, these results implicate the utilization of gluconate and the Entner-Doudoroff pathway as important elements in E. coli colonization of the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (237.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amirmozafari N., Robertson D. C. Nutritional requirements for synthesis of heat-stable enterotoxin by Yersinia enterocolitica. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1993 Oct;59(10):3314–3320. doi: 10.1128/aem.59.10.3314-3320.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baker H. V., 2nd, Wolf R. E., Jr Growth rate-dependent regulation of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase level in Escherichia coli K-12: beta-galactosidase expression in gnd-lac operon fusion strains. J Bacteriol. 1983 Feb;153(2):771–781. doi: 10.1128/jb.153.2.771-781.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Boyer H. W., Roulland-Dussoix D. A complementation analysis of the restriction and modification of DNA in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1969 May 14;41(3):459–472. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(69)90288-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cohen P. S., Rossoll R., Cabelli V. J., Yang S. L., Laux D. C. Relationship between the mouse colonizing ability of a human fecal Escherichia coli strain and its ability to bind a specific mouse colonic mucous gel protein. Infect Immun. 1983 Apr;40(1):62–69. doi: 10.1128/iai.40.1.62-69.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dower W. J., Miller J. F., Ragsdale C. W. High efficiency transformation of E. coli by high voltage electroporation. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Jul 11;16(13):6127–6145. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.13.6127. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. ENTNER N., DOUDOROFF M. Glucose and gluconic acid oxidation of Pseudomonas saccharophila. J Biol Chem. 1952 May;196(2):853–862. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Egan S. E., Fliege R., Tong S., Shibata A., Wolf R. E., Jr, Conway T. Molecular characterization of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway in Escherichia coli: sequence analysis and localization of promoters for the edd-eda operon. J Bacteriol. 1992 Jul;174(14):4638–4646. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.14.4638-4646.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Eisenberg R. C., Dobrogosz W. J. Gluconate metabolism in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1967 Mar;93(3):941–949. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.3.941-949.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fradkin J. E., Fraenkel D. G. 2-keto-3-deoxygluconate 6-phosphate aldolase mutants of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1971 Dec;108(3):1277–1283. doi: 10.1128/jb.108.3.1277-1283.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fraenkel D. G., Levisohn S. R. Glucose and gluconate metabolism in an Escherichia coli mutant lacking phosphoglucose isomerase. J Bacteriol. 1967 May;93(5):1571–1578. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.5.1571-1578.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Freter R., Brickner H., Botney M., Cleven D., Aranki A. Mechanisms that control bacterial populations in continuous-flow culture models of mouse large intestinal flora. Infect Immun. 1983 Feb;39(2):676–685. doi: 10.1128/iai.39.2.676-685.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Freter R., Brickner H., Fekete J., Vickerman M. M., Carey K. E. Survival and implantation of Escherichia coli in the intestinal tract. Infect Immun. 1983 Feb;39(2):686–703. doi: 10.1128/iai.39.2.686-703.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Herrero M., de Lorenzo V., Timmis K. N. Transposon vectors containing non-antibiotic resistance selection markers for cloning and stable chromosomal insertion of foreign genes in gram-negative bacteria. J Bacteriol. 1990 Nov;172(11):6557–6567. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.11.6557-6567.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. KORMAN R. Z., BERMAN D. T. Medium for the differentiation of acid producing colonies of staphylococci. J Bacteriol. 1958 Oct;76(4):454–455. doi: 10.1128/jb.76.4.454-455.1958. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. McCormick B. A., Franklin D. P., Laux D. C., Cohen P. S. Type 1 pili are not necessary for colonization of the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine by type 1-piliated Escherichia coli F-18 and E. coli K-12. Infect Immun. 1989 Oct;57(10):3022–3029. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.10.3022-3029.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Moore W. E., Holdeman L. V. Human fecal flora: the normal flora of 20 Japanese-Hawaiians. Appl Microbiol. 1974 May;27(5):961–979. doi: 10.1128/am.27.5.961-979.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Myhal M. L., Laux D. C., Cohen P. S. Relative colonizing abilities of human fecal and K 12 strains of Escherichia coli in the large intestines of streptomycin-treated mice. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Jun;1(3):186–192. doi: 10.1007/BF02019621. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Poulsen L. K., Lan F., Kristensen C. S., Hobolth P., Molin S., Krogfelt K. A. Spatial distribution of Escherichia coli in the mouse large intestine inferred from rRNA in situ hybridization. Infect Immun. 1994 Nov;62(11):5191–5194. doi: 10.1128/iai.62.11.5191-5194.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ritzenthaler P., Mata-Gilsinger M., Stoeber F. Construction and expression of hybrid plasmids containing Escherichia coli K-12 uxu genes. J Bacteriol. 1980 Sep;143(3):1116–1126. doi: 10.1128/jb.143.3.1116-1126.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sweeney N. J., Klemm P., McCormick B. A., Moller-Nielsen E., Utley M., Schembri M. A., Laux D. C., Cohen P. S. The Escherichia coli K-12 gntP gene allows E. coli F-18 to occupy a distinct nutritional niche in the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine. Infect Immun. 1996 Sep;64(9):3497–3503. doi: 10.1128/iai.64.9.3497-3503.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wadolkowski E. A., Laux D. C., Cohen P. S. Colonization of the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine by a human fecal Escherichia coli strain: role of growth in mucus. Infect Immun. 1988 May;56(5):1030–1035. doi: 10.1128/iai.56.5.1030-1035.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Zablotny R., Fraenkel D. G. Glucose and gluconate metabolism in a mutant of Escherichia coli lacking gluconate-6-phosphate dehydrase. J Bacteriol. 1967 May;93(5):1579–1581. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.5.1579-1581.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. de Lorenzo V., Herrero M., Jakubzik U., Timmis K. N. Mini-Tn5 transposon derivatives for insertion mutagenesis, promoter probing, and chromosomal insertion of cloned DNA in gram-negative eubacteria. J Bacteriol. 1990 Nov;172(11):6568–6572. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.11.6568-6572.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES