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The Evolutionary History of Shigella and Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli Revised

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Abstract

In Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC), the etiologic agents of shigellosis in humans, the determinants responsible for entry of bacteria into and dissemination within epithelial cells are encoded by a virulence plasmid. To understand the evolution of the association between the virulence plasmid and the chromosome, we performed a phylogenetic analysis using the sequences of four chromosomal genes (trpA, trpB, pabB, and putP) and three virulence plasmid genes (ipaB, ipaD, and icsA) of a collection of 51 Shigella and EIEC strains. The phylogenetic tree derived from chromosomal genes showed a typical “star” phylogeny, indicating a fast diversification of Shigella and EIEC groups. Phylogenetic groups obtained from the chromosomal and plasmidic genes were similar, suggesting that the virulence plasmid and the chromosome share similar evolutionary histories. The few incongruences between the trees could be attributed to exchanges of fragments of different plasmids and not to the transfer of an entire plasmid. This indicates that the virulence plasmid was not transferred between the different Shigella and EIEC groups. These data support a model of evolution in which the acquisition of the virulence plasmid in an ancestral E. coli strain preceded the diversification by radiation of all Shigella and EIEC groups, which led to highly diversified but highly specialized pathogenic groups.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Bertrand Picard and Philippe Bouvet for provision of the strains used in this study, Hélène d’Hauteville for access to precious RFLP data, Guillaume Lecointre, Pierre Darlu, Guillermo Orti, Ehab Abouheif, Dan Dykhuizen, and Olivier Tenaillon for helpful discussions, and Jacques Elion for constant encouragement. This work was supported in part by the Programme de Recherche Fondamentale en Microbiologie et Maladies Infectieuses et Parasitaires and grants from the INSERM and the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM U458, Hôpital Robert, Debré, 48 Boulevard Sérurier, 75019, Paris, France

    Patricia Escobar-Páramo & Erick Denamur

  2. Centre d’Etude du Polymorphisme Humain, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France

    Catherine Giudicelli

  3. Unité de Pathogénie Microbienne Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

    Claude Parsot

Authors
  1. Patricia Escobar-Páramo
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  2. Catherine Giudicelli
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  3. Claude Parsot
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  4. Erick Denamur
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Correspondence to Patricia Escobar-Páramo or Erick Denamur.

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Escobar-Páramo, P., Giudicelli, C., Parsot, C. et al. The Evolutionary History of Shigella and Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli Revised . J Mol Evol 57, 140–148 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-003-2460-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-003-2460-3

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