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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Veterinary and Zoonotic Infection
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1453907

Pathogenicity and identification of host adaptation genes of the avian pathogenic Escherichia coli O145 in duck

Provisionally accepted
Mei-Fang Tan Mei-Fang Tan Jia Tan Jia Tan *Shao-Pei Fang Shao-Pei Fang *Zhaofeng Kang Zhaofeng Kang Haiqin Li Haiqin Li Fan-Fan Zhang Fan-Fan Zhang *Cheng-Cheng Wu Cheng-Cheng Wu *Na Li Na Li *Yan-Bin Zeng Yan-Bin Zeng *Cui Lin Cui Lin *Jiang-Nan Huang Jiang-Nan Huang *
  • Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is a critical bacterial pathogen that causes severe infections in poultry. Diverse serotypes increase the complexity of treatment and controlling APEC infections. Recent epidemiological investigations indicate O145 is emerging as a predominant serogroup of APEC in China. However, limited information is known about this newly emerged serogroup. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying APEC O145-related pathogenicity and host adaptation. An APEC O145 strain, NC22, was selected for whole-genome sequencing and pathogenicity assays. Results show that NC22 is highly pathogenic to ducks, with a median lethal dose of 1.36×10 7 CFU. Subcutaneous inoculation of NC22 induced typical symptoms in ducks. The bacterial loads in the blood and various tissues peaked at 2 and 3 days post infection, respectively. The affected tissues included the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, bursa of Fabricius, duodenum, jejunum, and cecum. Furthermore, we analyzed the transcriptome profiles of NC22 during growth in duck liver versus lysogeny broth and identified 87 genes with differential expression levels.These included key metabolic enzymes and recognized host adaptation factors.Analysis of the metabolic pathways revealed an inhibition of the metabolic shift from glycolysis towards pentose phosphate pathway and an interference of the citrate cycle.Moreover, significantly differentially expressed small regulatory RNAs were examined, such as SroC, CsrC, and GadY. These findings enhance our understanding of the pathogenicity of APEC O145 and the molecular mechanisms underlying APEC-related pathogen-host interactions.

    Keywords: Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli, O145, pathogenicity, Host Adaptation, metabolic pathway, Duck

    Received: 24 Jun 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tan, Tan, Fang, Kang, Li, Zhang, Wu, Li, Zeng, Lin and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jia Tan, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Shao-Pei Fang, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Fan-Fan Zhang, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Cheng-Cheng Wu, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Na Li, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Yan-Bin Zeng, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Cui Lin, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China
    Jiang-Nan Huang, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang, China

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