简介：ThegenomeoftheenterohemorrhagicEscherichiacoliO157:H7EDL933contains177“O”-islands(OIs).TostudytheirpotentialcontributiontotheO157-specificpathogenicity,wesurveyedthedistributionof22OIsbyPCRandDNAhybridizationin17isolatesofShigatoxinproducing(Stx-positive)E.coliO157:H7,andcomparedwiththeirdistributionin21isolatesofStx-negativeE.coliO157and21isolatesofnon-O157entericpathogens.Fourteenof22OIswerepresentinnon-O157entericpathogensanalyzed.Eightof22OIswerefoundonlyinthe17Shigatoxin-(Stx)positiveE.coliO157:H7isolates,buttheywereabsentfromthe21Stx-negativeE.coliO157:NMandO157Hundisolatestested.Amongthe8OIs,onlyOI43orOI48wereexclusivelydetectedinStx-positiveE.coliO157:H7,absentfromneitherofStx-negativeE.coliO157andnon-O157entericpathogens,suchasSalmonella,ShigeUa,Citrobacter,Vibriocholera,enteropathogen-icE.coli(EPEC),enteroadherentE.coli(EAEC),enteroinvasiveE.coli(E1EC)andenterotoxingenicE.coli(ETEC).TheOI43andOI48are83kbinsizeandidenticalinDNAsequences,whichencodegenesforurease,telluriteresistanceandadherence.ByanalyzingtheirjunctiongeneswithPCRandDNAhybridization,wefoundthat21ChineseisolateshaveOI48only.However,for7Japanesepatientisolates,4haveOI43and3haveOI48;forAmericanisolates,2havebothofO143andOI48,2haveOI48only.ThesedataconfirmedthehighlyplasticityofthepathogenicE.coligenome.TheuniquepresenceofOI43/OI48inStx-positiveE.coli0157:H7denotesitscriticalroleinthepathogenicityspecifictothispathogen.