Zoonotic Potential of Canine Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Yangzhou, China

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a common pathogen of urinary tract infection. To investigate its characteristics and explore the interaction between UPEC and human urinary bladder cancer T24 cells, 7 canine UPEC strains were isolated from dogs in Yangzhou, China. The adhesion-encoding genes (iha, fimH, papA, papC, papG allele I, papG allele I', papG allele II, papG allele III, focA, focG, sfaS), virulence-associated genes (sat, cdtI, cnf1, hlyD), iron uptake system encoding genes (iroN, iut, ireA) were investigated, and the ability of biofilm formation was examined. In addition, UPEC in invading T24 cells, cytotoxicity, immune response and synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines were discussed. The results showed that fimH was 100% detected, followed by iut, iroN, and focA, with the detection rates of 71.4, 57.1 and 57.1% respectively; while papG allele I, papG allele I', papG allele II, papG allele III, cdtI, sat, sfaS, iha and sat were not detected. Most of the isolated UPEC strains have a strong virulence on T24 cells and could induce strong immune response. Taking these data together, canine UPEC strain may not be a canine specific pathogen, but has a certain potential for zoonosis.