Evaluation of virulence factors in clinical isolates of pathogenic E. coli in avian samples in Caloto, Colombia

Abstract

Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), produces an extraintestinal infection in chickens, turkeys, and other types of birds, called colibacillosis, which is considered one of the main causes of economic losses due to morbidity, mortality, and discard of poultry carcasses. The objective of the present study was to characterize the genetic profile of the virulence factors of different isolates of avian E. coli in Caloto, Cauca, Colombia. Materials and methods: E. coli was isolated and identified by biochemical tests, from 47 clinical isolates. Subsequently, the DNA was extracted using Chelex. Three multiplex PCRs were designed to amplify 13 virulence factors (iroN, hlyF, iss, iutA, frz, vat, sitA, KpsM, sitD, fimH, pstB, sopB, and uvrY), using primers previously reported for each. At the end, the amplification products were verified on agarose gels. Each isolate was classified according to the number of virulence factors: group A (between 10 and 13), group B (between 5 and 9), and group C (4 or less). Discussion and Conclusions: we were able to identify the presence of a group of virulence factors in clinical isolates of APEC, which allows us to demonstrate that both the frequency and the profile of virulence factors in the isolated strains showed a different profile than the reported by other authors. The virulence genes pstB and fimH were detected in all our samples, and the iss gene was the one with the lowest frequency. Finally, according to the number of virulence factors, the group A was the most frequent.