Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 57, Issue 9, Pages 735-744Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/W11-063
Keywords
Cronobacter spp.; adherence; invasion; biofilm; putative virulence genes
Categories
Funding
- DGAPA-UNAM [PAPIIT-IN217307]
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biomedicas
- Facultad de Medicina-CCA UNAM
- CONACyT
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Cronobacter spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii) includes gram-negative opportunistic foodborne pathogens known as rare but important causes of life-threatening neonatal infections. However, the pathogenic mechanism is not yet clear. In this study, 43 isolates of Cronobacter, from human and nonhuman sources, were analyzed. A total of four clusters were identified and 32 DNA pulsotypes were observed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In addition, 86% of the Cronobacter isolates were able to adhere to HEp-2 cells and 35% were invasive, Cronobacter sakazakii isolates being the most efficient. Twenty-six percent of Cronobacter isolates were able to form biofilms, mainly those from nonhuman sources, such as Cronobacter dublinensis and Cronobacter malonaticus. Three putative virulence genes (siderophore-interacting protein (sip), type III hemolysin (hly), and plasminogen activator (cpa)) were identified by bioinformatic analysis and then detected by PCR. The sip gene was the most frequently detected (60%; 26/43), followed by the hly gene (37%; 16/43) and the cpa gene (28%; 12/43). The three genes were identified primarily in C. sakazakii. Our data show that Cronobacter species harbor different virulence traits.
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