Epidemiological study of the relationship between Congo red binding Escherichia coli and avian colisepticemia.

An epidemiological prospective (longitudinal) study design was used to evaluate the association of Congo red positive Escherichia coli and avian colisepticemia. High and low risk exposure groups of chickens were identified at hatching, and placed in separate identical houses on the same farm. Approximately 14,000 birds were placed in each house for the seven week grow-out period, during which all birds which died were necropsied and cultured, together with a representative sample of birds which were culled weekly. The findings implicated Escherichia coli as the etiological agent of avian colisepticemia. A relative risk of 6.5 and attributable risk of 73.5% supported the hypothesis that the Congo red medium identifies a virulent form of Escherichia coli which causes airsacculitis-colisepticemia in poultry.     

Congo red medium to distinguish between invasive and non-invasive Escherichia coli pathogenic for poultry

In the course of our molecular studies of virulence factors associated with invasive avian Escherichia coli infections, it was first necessary to distinguish between common E. coli and those that cause septicemia in poultry. We found a direct correlation between the ability of clinical isolates of E. coli to bind Congo red dye (CR) and their ability to cause septicemic infection in chickens. This finding was supported by bacteriological studies of 30 broiler flocks (26 sick and 4 healthy) and by virulence studies in chickens and mice. All 144 isolates of E. coli from internal tissues of diseased birds were determined to be CR-positive (red colonies). Congo-red-positive E. coli colonies were isolated from air sacs, pericardium, liver, lung, joint fluid, and heart blood of chickens with lesions of colisepticemia. In contrast, of 170 E. coli isolates from the poultry house environment and from the trachea and cloaca of healthy birds, more than half were CR-negative (white colonies). No CR-negative (white) E. coli colonies were found in internal organs from birds with typical lesions of colisepticemia. We feel that these preliminary findings suggest that the CR dye binding could be used as a phenotypic marker to distinguish between invasive and noninvasive isolates.     

Cloning and sequencing of the iss gene from a virulent avian Escherichia coli

Control of colibacillosis is important to the poultry industry. We have found that the presence of a gene for increased serum survival, iss, is strongly correlated with Escherichia coli isolated from birds with colibacillosis. Therefore, the iss gene and its protein product, Iss, are potential targets for detection and control of avian colibacillosis. The iss gene was amplified from a virulent avian E. coli isolate and sequenced. The sequences of the gene and the predicted protein product were compared with those of iss from a human E. coli isolate and lambda bor. The iss gene from the avian E. coli isolate has 96.8% identity with the iss gene from the human E. coli isolate and 89.4% identity with lambda bor. The Iss protein from the avian isolate has 87% identity with Iss from the human isolate and 90% identity with Bor. The low identity between the two Iss proteins is because of a frame-shift in their respective coding sequences. In sum, iss from this avian E. coli isolate is very similar to iss from a human E. coli isolate, but because of a frameshift mutation in the coding sequence of iss from the human E. coli isolate, Iss proteins from avian and human E. coli isolates have only 87% identity. The strong association of iss with E. coli isolated from birds with colibacillosis, suggests that this sequence be studied for its value as a marker or target to be used in colibacillosis control.     

Inhibition of Salmonella typhimurium in the chicken intestinal tract by a transformed avirulent avian Escherichia coli.

An avirulent, wild-type avian Escherichia coli (E. coli Av) was electrotransformed with a plasmid coding for the production of microcin 24 (pGOB18) and was designated E. coli AvGOB18. The transformant inhibited the growth of seven serotypes of Salmonella commonly associated with colonization and contamination of poultry products and seven strains of E. coli O157:H7 in the in vitro colicin/microcin assay. The transformant did not inhibit the replication of multiple isolates of Listeria monocytogenes or Campylobacter jejuni in similar assays. The transformant is nonconjugative, indicating that the plasmid would not be transmitted to other intestinal microflora in the environment. The transformant also survived in sterile tap and deionized water incubated at 25 C and 37 C in the laboratory for 30 days and was recovered from drinkers and birds in in vivo floor pen studies. In in vivo studies, E. coli AvGOB18 did not colonize the intestinal tract of broiler chicks when given as a single or multiple dose and did not reduce the Salmonella load in the broilers. But Salmonella typhimurium was reduced significantly in the intestinal tracts of broiler chickens when E. coli AvGOB18 was administered continually in the water supply.     

Escherichia coli colonization of the trachea in poultry: comparison of virulent and avirulent strains in gnotoxenic chickens

In chickens, virulent Escherichia coli strains express their pathogenicity in the respiratory tract. A quantitative comparison of tracheal colonization by virulent and avirulent E. coli was carried out in gnotoxenic chickens after intestinal implantation. Two-week-old axenic chicks reared in isolators were inoculated per os with various associations of identified E. coli strains. No clinical sign of disease was observed in any of the chicks, despite the presence of virulent strains in all the intestines and most of the tracheas. The virulent organism reached greater population sizes in the trachea and feces of monocontaminated chicks and of chicks contaminated simultaneously with a virulent and an avirulent strain. In holoxenic chicks, identified virulent and avirulent strains were outnumbered by the E. coli population of the intestinal flora previously established and could not be recovered from the tracheas of most chicks.     

Congo red binding of Escherichia coli isolated from the cloacae of psittacine birds

Binding of Congo red dye by Escherichia coli is associated with the pathogenicity of the organism. The purpose of the present study was to determine the incidence of Congo red binding exhibited by E. coli isolated from the cloacae of psittacine birds, to examine the association between the Congo red status of the E. coli isolates and the health status of birds, and to assess the potential value of Congo red binding as a screening test for identifying pathogenic strains of E. coli isolated form the cloacae of psittacine birds. Escherichia coli was isolated from the cloacae of 120/435 (28%) psittacine birds; 17/120 (14%) of the E. coli isolates bound the dye (Congo red-positive) and 103/120 (86%) did not bind the dye (Congo red-negative). All of the Congo red-positive isolates were recovered from subjectively abnormal birds, whereas Congo red-negative isolates were recovered from both subjectively normal (71/120 [59%]) and abnormal (32/120 [27%]) birds.     

RT-PCR法快速鉴别新城疫强弱毒株的试验

通过对大量不同毒力NDV F基因核苷酸序列的分析，根据强弱毒株F0裂解位点的序列差异设计合成了三对引物，建立了快速诊断新城疫并能鉴别其强弱毒株的反转录-聚合酶链式反应(RT-PCR)方法，整个试验过程可在5h内完成。试验表明，该方法具有快速特异和操作简便的特点，不仅适用于对鸡胚毒的检测，而且适用于对病鸡组织匀浆液的检测，是新城疫鉴别诊断和流行病学调查的颇具潜力的分子诊断方法。     

仙草对禽大肠杆菌的体外抑菌试验

为探讨仙草的药理活性,采用两倍稀释的定量分析方法分别测定仙草的根、茎、叶及全草对3个血清型的禽大肠杆菌体外抑菌的MIC,并对仙草全草水和醇提取液的体外抑菌特性进行比较。结果显示仙草中根、茎、叶及全草对禽大肠杆菌的体外抑菌的MIC在3.9～250g/L之间,显示仙草优良的抑菌效果和广阔的应用前景;仙草全草醇提取液的体外抑菌效果优于水提取液,为临床应用提供理论依据。     

Serum resistance and aerobactin iron uptake in avian Escherichia coli mediated by conjugative 100-megadalton plasmid.

A total of 115 strains of Escherichia coli isolated from chickens with colisepticemia in Japan were examined for chicken lethality and virulence factors. It was found that serum resistance and aerobactin-mediated iron uptake are the most prevalent characteristics in these strains. Among them, S-20, a representative virulent strain of serotype O2, was further studied. S-20 harbored a conjugative 100-megadalton (Mdal) plasmid, designated pKI100. Curing and reintroduction experiments showed that pKI100 encodes both serum resistance and aerobactin-mediated iron uptake, and the diminished virulence of the pKI100-cured strain was fully restored by the reintroduction of the plasmid. These results demonstrated that pKI100 is the virulence plasmid of the S-20 strain, and that serum resistance and aerobactin-mediated iron uptake are the virulence factors in E. coli strains which cause avian colibacillosis.     

禽大肠杆菌高密度发酵与溶氧关系的研究

利用GUJS—10C小型发酵罐分批培养禽大肠杆菌，通过平板计数、比浊计数的方法，对大肠杆菌高密度发酵中细菌生长与溶氧的关系进行分析。结果表明：溶氧的规律性变化能够反映大肠杆菌生长的规律，即在细菌生长的适应期细菌数量较少，耗氧量少，溶氧曲线最高；随着发酵时间的增加，细菌不断增多，耗氧量也随之增加，溶氧曲线下降；达到对数生长期，曲线最低；进入稳定期，曲线趋于平稳；到发酵后期，细菌进入衰老期，溶氧曲线略有上升，这时可终止发酵。     

Biological characteristics and pathogenicity of avian Escherichia coli strains.

Fifty avian (chicken) pathogenic Escherichia coli strains (APEC) isolated from individuals suffering from omphalitis, septicaemia and swollen head syndrome, and 30 strains isolated from healthy chickens were studied regarding their biological characteristics such as serogroups, haemolysin, colicin, cytotoxin, toxin and siderophore production, adhesion capacity to in vitro cultivated cells, and absorption of Congo red dye. Serotyping demonstrated that most of the omphalitis and normal strains were untypable, whereas most of the septicaemic strains were either untypable or rough. There was no prevalent serogroup among the pathogenic strains studied. The capacity for adhesion and invasion of in vitro cultured cells (HeLa, HEp-2, KPCC), as well as the agglutination of different types of red blood cells and the LD50 of each strain were also evaluated. No correlation was observed between the biological characteristics and pathogenicity, except that colicin was characteristically produced by swollen head syndrome E. coli strains. No correlation was found between adhesion or haemagglutination patterns and pathogenicity. Only six of the 50 strains revealed invasive capacity and the strain that best invaded the cell lines was the one with the lowest LD50.     

Characterization of monoclonal antibodies to avian Escherichia coli Iss

Colibacillosis accounts for annual multimillion dollar losses in the poultry industry, and control of this disease is hampered by limited understanding of the virulence mechanisms used by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). Previous work in our laboratory has found that the presence of the increased serum survival gene (iss) is strongly associated with APEC but not commensal E. coli, making iss and the protein it encodes (Iss) candidate targets of colibacillosis-control procedures. Previously, we produced monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against Iss to be used as a reagent in studies of APEC virulence and colibacillosis pathogenesis. Unfortunately, the utility of these MAbs was limited because these MAbs exhibited nonspecific binding. It was thought that the lack of specificity might be related to the fact that these MAbs were of the immunoglobulin M (IgM) isotype. In the present study, new MAbs were produced using a different immunization strategy in an effort to generate MAbs of a different isotype. Also, because Iss bears strong similarity to Bor, a lambda-derived protein that occurs commonly among E. coli, MAbs were assessed for their ability to distinguish Iss and Bor. For these studies, the bor gene from an APEC isolate was cloned into an expression vector. The fusion protein expressed from this construct was used to assess the potential of the anti-Iss MAbs produced in the past and present studies to distinguish Bor and Iss. The MAbs produced in this study were of the IgG1 isotype, which appeared to bind more specifically to Iss than previously generated antibodies in certain immunologic procedures. These results suggested that the MAbs generated in this study might prove superior to the previous MAbs as a reagent for study of APEC. However, both MAbs recognized recombinant Iss and Bor, suggesting that any results obtained using anti-Iss MAbs would need to be interpreted with this cross-reactivity in mind.     

Reaction of the avian respiratory system to intratracheally administered avirulent Salmonella typhimurium.

Chickens were inoculated intratracheally (IT) with the SR-11 Salmonella typhimurium deletion mutant x4062 strain. Data collected for 8 days postinoculation (PI) were: signs of respiratory and gastrointestinal disease; histological lesions; the influx, phagocytic proportion, and phagocytic capacity of avian respiratory phagocytes (ARPs); and the proportion of granulocytes vs. macrophages in the lung tissues and lavage fluids of the lungs and air sacs. S. typhimurium-inoculated chickens had no clinical signs of gastrointestinal or respiratory disease but had various degrees of inflammatory changes in the lungs. At 5 hr PI, S. typhimurium-inoculated chickens had approximately 53-fold more ARPs than mock-inoculated controls. Between 26 hr and 8 days PI, the number of ARPs from S. typhimurium-inoculated birds was not significantly higher than the number from the mock-inoculated controls. Flow cytometric analysis of ARPs demonstrated that the proportion of phagocytic ARPs and the phagocytic capacity of ARPs from S. typhimurium-inoculated chickens were significantly higher between 5 and 26 hr PI than those of the ARPs from mock-inoculated chickens. Kinetic changes over 8 days in the granulocyte/macrophage ratios in the lavage fluids, as compared with kinetic changes in the lung tissues, suggested that the granulocytes generally represent a much higher proportion of the ARPs, and egress earlier and in much larger numbers from the tissues to the lumen of lungs and air sacs than do macrophages.     

Characteristics of conjugative R-plasmids from pathogenic avian Escherichia coli.

Three of four virulent avian Escherichia coli isolates transferred a single large molecular-weight R-plasmid to two recipient E. coli strains. Antibiotic resistances transferred included streptomycin (two isolates) and streptomycin-tetracycline-sulfa (one isolate). Production of colicin and siderophores, complement resistance, and embryo lethality present in the virulent isolates were not transferred to recipient organisms. From the results, it appears that the R-plasmids of these virulent avian E. coli are not associated with virulence.     

Comparison of a complement resistance test, a chicken embryo lethality test, and the chicken lethality test for determining virulence of avian Escherichia coli.

Results with four pathogenic avian Escherichia coli isolates and one avirulent isolate in a complement resistance test, a chicken lethality test, and a chicken embryo lethality test were compared. Results of the complement resistance test with these isolates were highly correlated to results of the chicken lethality test of virulence. The chicken embryo test yielded results that were of a medium positive correlation with the chicken lethality results. The results of the complement resistance and chicken embryo lethality tests were highly correlated.     

2型猪链球菌强毒株与无毒株胞外蛋白的双向电泳图谱比较分析

利用双向电泳技术可以对体外培养的2型猪链球菌强毒株和无毒株进行胞外蛋白质组比较,寻找与毒力相关的蛋白质.2型猪链球菌强毒株和无毒株在无蛋白细菌培养液中37℃摇床培养16 h,从培养物上清中获得胞外蛋白.第一向电泳用pH4-7线性IPG胶条进行等电聚焦,第二向电泳用SDS-PAGE凝胶再分离蛋白,经过考马斯亮蓝R350染色,图像扫描后,利用软件分析处理图像.在2型猪链球菌强毒株和无毒株的胞外蛋白质图谱中都分别检测出180±10个蛋白质斑点,它们的蛋白质分子质量分布基本相似;在所检测到的差异蛋白质斑点中,其中有50个蛋白斑点只存在于无毒株中而强毒株中不存在,有52个蛋白斑点只存在于强毒株中而无毒株中不存在,有7个蛋白斑点的表达量相差达5倍以上.这为研究2型猪链球菌的致病机理提供了蛋白质组学方面的信息.     

Occurrence of the temperature-sensitive hemagglutinin among avian Escherichia coli

In this study, we determined the occurrence of the tsh gene among 305 Escherichia coli isolates from chickens by means of the polymerase chain reaction and agglutination of chicken erythrocytes; 200 of those isolates were obtained from chickens with colisepticemia, 52 isolates were from lesions of cellulitis, and 53 were from feces of normal chickens. The tsh gene was found in 79 (39.5%) isolates from colisepticemia, in 10 (19%) cellulitis-derived E. coli isolates, and in two (3.8%) fecal isolates. Among the tsh+ strains, 68 (86%) isolates from colisepticemia and nine (90%) from cellulitis agglutinated chicken erythrocytes in the presence of mannose, after growing the strains on colonization factor antigen agar plates at 26 C, which confirms a correlation between mannose-resistant hemagglutination and expression of hemagglutinin Tsh. These results show, for the first time, the presence of the gene tsh in cellulitis-derived E. coli isolates; the high frequency of this gene among avian pathogenic E. coli isolates in Brazil indicates that its putative role as a virulence factor should be studied more thoroughly.     

小心弱毒型禽流感卷土重来

几年前，弱毒型禽流感（低致病性禽流感H9N2亚型）在我国发生并流行，导致大批蛋鸡发病．产蛋下降，并且造成了不同程度的死亡，当时肉鸡也有零星发生。H9N2亚型禽流感给养鸡户一个措手不及，由于当时没有这方面的研究，更没有疫苗．因此疫情出现后给广大养鸡户造成了巨大的经济损失。     

Characterization of Escherichia coli isolated from cases of avian colibacillosis.

Forty-four western Canadian isolates of Escherichia coli associated with colibacillosis of turkeys and chickens were examined for serotype, antibiotic resistance, and production of aerobactin. The isolates belonged to fourteen O serogroups, with 39% of the strains being non-typeable. A high frequency of resistance to tetracycline, kanamycin, neomycin, cephalothin, streptomycin and erythromycin was observed. Most isolates produced aerobactin. Ten E. coli belonging to serogroups O1, O2 and O78 were also examined for pili production, hemagglutination, serum sensitivity, production of iron-regulated outer membrane proteins (IROMPS), and virulence. All isolates examined produced pili, exhibited mannose-sensitive hemagglutination of avian red blood cells and produced IROMPS under iron-restricted growth conditions. The five isolates of serogroup O1 and O2 were resistant to killing by turkey serum and were highly virulent. Only two of the five isolates of serogroup O78 were serum resistant. No correlation between serum resistance and virulence was observed in serogroup O78.     

Identification of a new Escherichia coli She haemolysin homolog in avian E. coli

Haemolysin is one type of virulence factor that assists in the pathogenesis of Escherichia coli. Currently, hemolytic activity in E. coli has been attributed to haemolysin genes found in either uropathogenic or enterohemorrhagic E. coli. Both haemolysins are classified as RTX toxins because they both have repeats in toxin domains and share similar operon organization, sequence homology, and mechanisms of action. Haemolytic avian E. coli isolates, however, lack either E. coli haemolysin gene. To investigate the avian E. coli haemolysin, a genomic library was made from an avian pathogenic E. coli. A haemolytic clone that was isolated was shown to contain homology with sheA, an E. coli K- 12 gene which causes haemolysis when present in high copy number. The cloned haemolysin gene, hlyE, lacked the conserved amino acid sequence and accessory genes common to all RTX toxins. DNA hybridizations and polymerase chain reaction amplifications showed that the nucleotide sequences homologous to hlyE were not present in a collection of three O157: H7 E. coli, five haemolytic canine uropathogenic E. coli, one haemolytic O26 E. coli, and three haemolytic avian pathogenic E. coli. Thus we have identified a new E. coli haemolysin distinct from the RTX haemolysins and have shown that some avian pathogenic E. coli possess a haemolysin with no apparent homology to hlyE or RTX haemolysins.