Virulence markers of Escherichia coli strains isolated from hospital and poultry wastewater

The aim of the study was to investigate the presence of several virulence genes and factors associated with virulence in E. coli strains isolated from different categories of wastewater. The majority of the aquatic strains isolated from wastewater exhibited high capacity of adherence to the cellular substratum (72.41%) demonstrating the potential to colonize the eukaryotic host cells and to initiate an infectious process, augmented by several extracellular enzymes associated with bacterial pathogenesis and their surveillance in the extreme conditions of the aquatic ecosystem, including: amylase (58%), caseinase (44.82%) and lipase (34.48%). The molecular screening of virulence markers revealed that 44.82% of E. coli isolated simultaneously harbor pldA and helD genes. No specific genes (aggR, EAggEC, EAST/1, VT1, VT2) for any of the known E. coli pathotypes has been detected in tested strains.