Phage predation shapes the population structure of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the UK: An evolutionary perspective

Lauren A. Cowley*, Timothy J. Dallman, Claire Jenkins, Samuel K. Sheppard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Bacterial–host interactions are non-linear and actually threefold, involving significant selection through predatory lytic bacteriophages in the host environment. In studies of human and animal gut microbiome bacteria, it is important to consider phage in all host–pathogen interactions. We use an important zoonotic pathogen, Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7, to investigate this. Our study provides evidence that phage resistance profiles are well maintained at the sub-lineage level with variation in profiles within sub-lineages uncommon. This indicates that phage resistance heterogeneity happened early on in the STEC O157:H7 natural history and that occasional “wobbles” do not often outcompete the stable lineage unless combined with a competitive advantage. We discuss an example of this in the acquisition of stx2a that, while an important virulence factor, also conveys increased phage cross-resistance. We also discuss the role of phage resistance in co-occurrence of the three stable lineages worldwide and whether differing phage resistance is maintaining diversity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number763
JournalFrontiers in Genetics
Volume10
Issue numberJUL
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
LC is supported under the University of Bath prize fellowship scheme. SS is a principal investigator for the MRC CLIMB consortium (MR/L015080/1). TD and CJ are funded through PHE.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 Cowley, Dallman, Jenkins and Sheppard. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Keywords

  • Escherichia coli O157:H7
  • Evolution
  • Host
  • Phage
  • Population structure

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