Insertion site of the locus of enterocyte effacement in enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli differs in relation to the clonal phylogeny of the strains.

The locus of enterocyte effacement pathogenicity island confers the attaching and effacing histopathology on epithelial cells infected with enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. We investigated the site of insertion of the locus of enterocyte effacement in E. coli strains in relation to their evolution based on conservation of housekeeping proteins in these strains. The results indicate that the insertion site of the locus of enterocyte effacement varies according to the evolutionary lineage, suggesting that it has inserted at multiple times and sites during the evolution of these pathogens.