HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by WALES, A. D. Articles by WOODWARD, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by WALES, A. D. Articles by WOODWARD, M. J. Agricola Articles by WALES, A. D. Articles by WOODWARD, M. J.

Production of attaching-effacing lesions in ligated large intestine loops of 6-month-old sheep by Escherichia coli O157:H7

Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU and *Department of Bacterial Diseases, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK

Corresponding author: Professor M. J. Woodward (e-mail: m.j.woodward{at}vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk).

Received 2 April 2002; revised version received 4 May 2002; accepted 13 May 2002.

Abstract

Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC O157:H7) is associated with potentially fatal human disease, and a persistent reservoir of the organism is present in some farm animal species, especially cattle and sheep. The mechanisms of persistent colonisation of the ruminant intestine by STEC O157:H7 are poorly understood but may be associated with intimate adherence to eukaryotic cells. Intimate adherence, as evidenced by induction of attaching-effacing (AE) lesions by STEC O157, has been observed in 6-day-old conventional lambs after deliberate oral infection but not in older animals. Thus, the present study used a ligated intestinal loop technique to investigate whether STEC O157:H7 and other attaching-effacing E. coli may adhere intimately to the sheep large intestinal mucosa. To do this, four STEC O157:H7 strains, one STEC O26:K60:H11 and one Shiga toxin-negative E. coli O157:H7 strain, suspended in either phosphate-buffered saline or Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium, were inoculated into ligated spiral colon loops of each of two lambs. The loops were removed 6 h after inoculation, fixed and examined by light and electron microscopy. AE lesions on the intestinal mucosa were produced by all the inoculated strains. However, the lesions were sparse and small, typically comprising bacterial cells intimately adhered to a single enterocyte, or a few adjacent enterocytes. There was little correlation between the extent of intimate adherence in this model and the bacterial cell density, pre-inoculation growth conditions of the bacteria or the strain tested.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. Aktan, R. M. La Ragione, and M. J. Woodward Colonization, Persistence, and Tissue Tropism of Escherichia coli O26 in Conventionally Reared Weaned Lambs Appl. Envir. Microbiol., February 1, 2007; 73(3): 691 - 698. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R M La Ragione, N M. Ahmed, A Best, D Clifford, U Weyer, W A Cooley, L Johnson, G R Pearson, and M J Woodward Colonization of 8-week-old conventionally reared goats by Escherichia coli O157 : H7 after oral inoculation J. Med. Microbiol., May 1, 2005; 54(5): 485 - 492. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]