Molecular serotyping of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli with a MeltArray assay reveals distinct correlation between serotype and pathotype
Chen Du,
Yiqun Liao,
Congcong Ding,
Jiayu Huang,
Shujuan Zhou,
Yiyan Xu,
Zhaohui Yang,
Xiaolu Shi,
Yinghui Li,
Min Jiang,
Le Zuo,
Minxu Li,
Shengzhe Bian,
Na Xiao,
Liqiang Li,
Ye Xu,
Qinghua Hu,
Qingge Li
Affiliations
Chen Du
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Yiqun Liao
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Congcong Ding
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Jiayu Huang
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Shujuan Zhou
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Yiyan Xu
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Zhaohui Yang
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Xiaolu Shi
Microbiology Lab Office, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Yinghui Li
Microbiology Lab Office, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Min Jiang
Microbiology Lab Office, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Le Zuo
Microbiology Lab Office, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Minxu Li
Microbiology Lab Office, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Shengzhe Bian
BGI research, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
Na Xiao
Laboratory Department, Yantian District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Liqiang Li
National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, The Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Ye Xu
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Qinghua Hu
Microbiology Lab Office, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
Qingge Li
Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Diagnostics of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli serotypes are associated with various clinical syndromes, yet the precise correlation between serotype and pathotype remains unclear. A major barrier to such studies is the reliance on antisera-based serotyping, which is culture-dependent, low-throughput, and cost-ineffective. We have established a highly multiplex PCR-based serotyping assay, termed the MeltArray E. coli serotyping (EST) assay, capable of identifying 163 O-antigen-encoding genes and 53 H-antigen-encoding genes of E. coli. The assay successfully identified serotypes directly from both simulated and real fecal samples, as demonstrated through spike-in validation experiments and a retrospective study. In a multi-province study involving 637 E. coli strains, it revealed that the five major diarrheagenic pathotypes have distinct serotype compositions. Notably, it differentiated 257 Shigella isolates into four major Shigella species, distinguishing them from enteroinvasive E. coli based on their distinct serotype profiles. The assay’s universality was further corroborated by in silico analysis of whole-genome sequences from the EnteroBase. We conclude that the MeltArray EST assay represents a paradigm-shifting tool for molecular serotyping of E. coli, with potential routine applications for comprehensive serotype analysis, disease diagnosis, and outbreak detection.
