Comparison between APEC genomes and genomes of commensal Escherichia coli

Abstract

The respiratory tract is a reservoir for several microorganisms. The presence of disease in the lungs alters the conditions necessary for microbial growth in the respiratory tract. Therefore, diseases in the respiratory tract may alter the composition of the resident microbiota. The association between microbiota and diseases is known. In poultry, for example, infection with the chicken infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) facilitates the colonization and production of Escherichia coli (colibacillosis) disease. E coli strains associated with colibacillosis are known as APEC (Avian Pathogenic E. coli). Genomes of APEC strains will be sequenced and annotated.These genomes will be compared to non-pathogenic E. coli genomes present in Genbank. This work may be useful in the definition of genetic traits associated with APEC. (AU)