Shiga toxin-producing bacteriophage in Escherichia coli O157:H7

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dc.contributor.authorHallewell, Jennyka
dc.contributor.authorUniversity of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
dc.contributor.supervisorThomas, James E.
dc.contributor.supervisorGannon, Victor P. J.
dc.date.accessioned2009-10-13T15:42:47Z
dc.date.available2009-10-13T15:42:47Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.degree.levelMasters
dc.descriptionxv, 162 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.en
dc.description.abstractShiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) including E. coli O157:H7 are potential food and water borne zoonotic bacterial pathogens capable of causing outbreaks of severe illness in humans. The virulence of E. coli O157:H7 strains may be related to the type of Stx produced and several Stx2 variants have been identified which appear to differ in their ability to cause disease. Two lineages exist within O157 strains where lineage I is associated mainly with human and bovine isolates and lineage II is associated mainly with bovine isolates. The goal of this study was to identify and characterize a lineage II EC970520 Stx2c phage and determine if variations in the phage compared to Stx2 phage found within the lineage I strain, EDL933, can result in differences in virulence observed between the lineages. This study suggests: 1) that the lineage II strain EC970520 contains a highly heterogeneous Stx2c variant phage; 2) that location of integration of the phage within the genome of a bacterium may be important for host selection; 3) that EC970520 Stx2c phage genes are lineage II specific but only a subset of EDL933 phage genes are lineage I specific; 4) that differences in the stability of phages within bacteria contribute to the evolution of new pathogens; 5) that variation in phage genes can be used to detect different strains of E. coli O157:H7 and other STEC; and 6)that the type of phage may result in phenotypic differences between lineages and occurrence of human disease. Results of this study indicate that lineage II strains may be less virulent than lineage I strains due to specific genetic differences and the ability to release phage which is important to the evolution of new pathogenic strains.en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/776
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Deptartment of Biochemistry, 2008en
dc.publisher.departmentChemistry and Biochemistryen
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Scienceen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)en
dc.subjectBacteriophages -- Geneticsen
dc.subjectEscherichia coli -- Geneticsen
dc.subjectBacterial geneticsen
dc.subjectViral geneticsen
dc.subjectMolecular biologyen
dc.subjectDissertations, Academicen
dc.titleShiga toxin-producing bacteriophage in Escherichia coli O157:H7en
dc.typeThesisen
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