The association between colicinogenicity and pathogenesis among uropathogenic isolates of Escherichia coli.

Colicins have previously been thought to play an indirect role in bacterial pathogenesis. We describe here an association between colicinogenicity and pathogenesis among uropathogenic E. coli strains based on 568 clinical isolates. Significantly more strains isolated from patients with the symptomatic infections pyelonephritis and cystitis produced colicin, 44.4% (P < 0.05) and 51.5% (P < 0.01), respectively, than those strains isolated from patients with asymptomatic infections (32.5%). Attempts to identify new colicins produced by the 232 colicin+ isolates showed that 57.3% did not belong to any known colicin type. The colicin V genotype was found in only 10.8% of the colicin+ isolates, suggesting the possibility of different colicinogenic plasmids predominating during urinary tract infections.