The Presence of Iron and Iucc Virulence-Associated Genes in Romanian Apec Isolates

Abstract Colibacillosis in poultry is relating with the colonisation with so called Avian Pathogen E. coli (APEC) strains. It is already known that usually in the APEC isolates are present at least 13 virulence-associated genes. We selected 12 non-repetitive E. coli isolates from different Romanian poultry outbreaks. Isolates have been evaluated for the presence of the virulence-associated genes, iroN and iucC. The DNA extraction was made using QIAamp cador Pathogen Mini Kit (Qiagen). The amplification protocol was: a cycle of denaturation at 94°C for 5 min followed by 35 cycles of 94°C for 30 s, 63°C for 45 s and 72°C for 105 s, and a cycle of 72°C for 7 min. Both virulence-associated genes were identified in 83.33% (11/12) isolates. In two APEC isolates, only one gene was identified, iroN or iucC, respectively. According to these preliminary results it could be assumed that iroN and iucC genes are independently expressing their virulence.