| Abstract: | 216 avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) isolates were obtained from poultry with colibacillosis in different areas of China. Among them, 195 were serotyped as O78, O88, and O93. Thirteen virulence-associated genes, including fimC, iucD, iss, tsh, fyuA, irp2, eaeA, hlyE, colV, papC, stx2f, vat, and astA, were submitted to PCR amplification. The fimC gene was the most prevalent with a detection rate of 93.6%, followed by iucD (70.8%), iss (58.8%), and tsh (51.4%) in APEC isolates. The detection rate of high pathogenicity islands (HPI)-associated fyuA and irp2 genes were both 44.9%, with no LEE (the locus of enterocyte effacement) island-associated gene eaeA detected. In terms of distribution patterns of the 13 virulence-associated genes, 5 isolates harborbed 10 genes, 19 isolates contained only fimC gene, and only 4 isolates had no virulence-associated gene detected. Different correlations of the virulence-associated genes with O serotypes were also investigated and 50% O78 isolates had a gene distribution patterns of fimC+iucD+irp2+fyuA+iss+colV+tsh+. |
