Hinenoya Atsushi, Wang Huiwen, Patrick Erin M, Zeng Ximin, Cao Liu, Li Xing-Ping, Lindsey Rebecca L, Gillespie Barbara, He Qiang, Yamasaki Shinji, Lin Jun
Department of Animal Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA; Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan; Asian Health Science Research Institute, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan; Osaka International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan.
Department of Animal Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Microbiol Res. 2022 Sep;262:127109. doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2022.127109. Epub 2022 Jul 2.
Escherichia albertii is an emerging enteric bacterial pathogen causing watery diarrhea, abdominal distension, vomiting and fever in humans. E. albertii has caused many foodborne outbreaks in Japan and was also reported in other countries worldwide. However, the important animal reservoirs of this pathogen are still largely unknown, impeding us to combat this emerging pathogen. Recently, we reported that wild raccoons (Procyon lotor) and broiler chickens are significant reservoirs of E. albertii in Japan and the U.S., respectively. Here, we performed a longitudinal surveillance to monitor prevalence of E. albertii in wild raccoons in the U.S. and conducted comprehensive comparative analyses of the E. albertii of different origins. A total of 289 fecal swab samples were collected from wild raccoons in Tennessee and Kentucky in the U.S. (2018-2020). Approximately 26% (74/289) of the raccoons examined were PCR-positive for E. albertii and eventually 22 E. albertii isolates were obtained. PFGE analysis showed the U.S. raccoon E. albertii were phylogenetically distant even though the corresponding raccoons were captured from a small area. Unlike the high prevalence of multidrug resistance (83%) observed in previous chicken E. albertii survey, antibiotic resistance was rarely observed in all the U.S. raccoon and 22 Japan raccoon strains with only one Japan strain displaying multidrug resistance (2%). Whole genome sequencing of 54 diverse E. albertii strains and subsequent comparative genomics analysis revealed unique clusters that displayed close evolutionary relationships and similar virulence gene profiles among the strains of different origins in terms of geographical locations (e.g., U.S. and Japan) and hosts (raccoon, chicken, swine, and human). Challenge experiment demonstrated raccoon E. albertii strains could successfully colonize in the chicken intestine at 3 and 8 days postinfection. A pilot environmental survey further showed all the four tested water samples from Tennessee river were E. albertii-positive; two different E. albertii strains, isolated from a single water sample, showed close relationships to those of human origin. Together, the findings from this study provide new insights into the ecology, evolution, and pathobiology of E. albertii, and underscore the need to control the emerging E. albertii in a complex ecosystem using One Health approach.
阿尔伯特埃希氏菌是一种新出现的肠道细菌病原体，可导致人类出现水样腹泻、腹胀、呕吐和发热症状。阿尔伯特埃希氏菌在日本已引发多起食源性疾病暴发，在世界其他国家也有相关报道。然而，这种病原体重要的动物宿主仍大多未知，这阻碍了我们对抗这种新出现的病原体。最近，我们报告称，野生浣熊（北美浣熊）和肉鸡分别是日本和美国阿尔伯特埃希氏菌的重要宿主。在此，我们进行了一项纵向监测，以监测美国野生浣熊中阿尔伯特埃希氏菌的流行情况，并对不同来源的阿尔伯特埃希氏菌进行了全面的比较分析。从美国田纳西州和肯塔基州的野生浣熊中总共采集了289份粪便拭子样本（2018 - 2020年）。在所检测的浣熊中，约26%（74/289）的浣熊阿尔伯特埃希氏菌PCR检测呈阳性，最终获得了22株阿尔伯特埃希氏菌分离株。脉冲场凝胶电泳分析表明，尽管相应的浣熊是在一个小区域捕获的，但美国浣熊的阿尔伯特埃希氏菌在系统发育上相距较远。与之前对鸡源阿尔伯特埃希氏菌调查中观察到的高多重耐药率（83%）不同，在美国所有浣熊和22株日本浣熊菌株中很少观察到抗生素耐药性，只有一株日本菌株表现出多重耐药性（2%）。对54株不同的阿尔伯特埃希氏菌菌株进行全基因组测序并随后进行比较基因组学分析，揭示了独特的聚类，这些聚类在不同来源的菌株之间，就地理位置（如美国和日本）和宿主（浣熊、鸡、猪和人类）而言，显示出密切的进化关系和相似的毒力基因谱。攻毒实验表明，浣熊源阿尔伯特埃希氏菌菌株在感染后3天和8天能够成功定殖于鸡肠道。一项初步的环境调查进一步显示，田纳西河的所有4份检测水样阿尔伯特埃希氏菌均呈阳性；从单个水样中分离出的两种不同的阿尔伯特埃希氏菌菌株与人类来源的菌株关系密切。总之，本研究结果为阿尔伯特埃希氏菌的生态学、进化和病理生物学提供了新的见解，并强调需要采用“同一健康”方法在复杂生态系统中控制新出现的阿尔伯特埃希氏菌。
