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Parallel evolution of virulence in pathogenic Escherichia coli

Nature volume 406, pages 64–67 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The mechanisms underlying the evolution and emergence of new bacterial pathogens are not well understood. To elucidate the evolution of pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, here we sequenced seven housekeeping genes to build a phylogenetic tree and trace the history of the acquisition of virulence genes. Compatibility analysis indicates that more than 70% of the informative sites agree with a single phylogeny, suggesting that recombination has not completely obscured the remnants of ancestral chromosomes1,2,3. On the basis of the rate of synonymous substitution for E. coli and Salmonella enterica (4.7 × 10-9 per site per year3), the radiation of clones began about 9 million years ago and the highly virulent pathogen responsible for epidemics of food poisoning, E. coli O157:H7, separated from a common ancestor of E. coli K-12 as long as 4.5 million years ago. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that old lineages of E. coli have acquired the same virulence factors in parallel, including a pathogenicity island involved in intestinal adhesion, a plasmid-borne haemolysin, and phage-encoded Shiga toxins. Such parallel evolution indicates that natural selection has favoured an ordered acquisition of genes and the progressive build-up of molecular mechanisms that increase virulence.

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Figure 1: Genomic locations and variability of E. coli housekeeping genes.
Figure 2: Compatibility of nucleotide polymorphisms.
Figure 3: Phylogenetic analysis of 21 E. coli strains.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank S. Plock for technical assistance. This research was supported by NIH grants (to T.S.W. and R.K.S.), and the Enteric Pathogen Research Unit at the University of Maryland Medical School.

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  1. Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802, Pennsylvania, USA

    Sean D. Reid, Corinne J. Herbelin, Alyssa C. Bumbaugh, Robert K. Selander & Thomas S. Whittam

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  1. Sean D. Reid
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  2. Corinne J. Herbelin
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  4. Robert K. Selander
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  5. Thomas S. Whittam
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Correspondence to Thomas S. Whittam.

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Reid, S., Herbelin, C., Bumbaugh, A. et al. Parallel evolution of virulence in pathogenic Escherichia coli. Nature 406, 64–67 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35017546

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