Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections

Escherichia coli is the most common type of Enterobacteriaceae family that causes urinary tract infections. This bacterium causes diseases due to its many virulence factors. During the study, (150) urine samples were collected for women with symptoms of UTIs aged between (20-50) years from 1/9/2021...

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Main Authors: Zainab Hussein Mahdi, Lina S. Alsaadi, Zainab Amer Hatem, Saade Abdalkareem Jasim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2025-01-01
Series:Acta Biologica Slovenica
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Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/19574
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author Zainab Hussein Mahdi
Lina S. Alsaadi
Zainab Amer Hatem
Saade Abdalkareem Jasim
author_facet Zainab Hussein Mahdi
Lina S. Alsaadi
Zainab Amer Hatem
Saade Abdalkareem Jasim
author_sort Zainab Hussein Mahdi
collection DOAJ
description Escherichia coli is the most common type of Enterobacteriaceae family that causes urinary tract infections. This bacterium causes diseases due to its many virulence factors. During the study, (150) urine samples were collected for women with symptoms of UTIs aged between (20-50) years from 1/9/2021 to 1/4/2022. Forty-five isolates of E. coli were diagnosed using a biochemical test, a VITEK2 system, and molecular detection using traditional PCR. A molecular study was conducted on 25 of these isolates using conventional PCR and qRT-PCR to investigate the presence of genes included (16S rRNA, uidA,  fimA and kpsMTII). The traditional PCR results showed the presence of both 16S rRNA and uidA gene in all 25 isolates of E. coli. In contrast, the results showed that  23 (92%) and 18 (72%) isolates possessed fimA and kpsMTII genes, respectively. Following the extraction of RNA from twenty-five pathogenic isolates of E. coli and ten non-pathogenic isolates, gene expression of fimA and kpsMTII was quantified using quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). The observed fold change indicates a potential overexpression of the KSPMII and FimA genes in uropathogenic E. coli. The expression of the kpsMTII gene showed the highest level of folding with an average of 22.89 in the case of uropathogenic E.coli isolates compared with non-pathogenic isolates (control) with an average of 4.11. While the expression of the fimA gene with the highest level of fold change with an average of 90.52 in the case of uropathogenic E.coli isolates compared with non-pathogenic isolates (control) with an average of 0.94, Significant differences were observed among the isolates, as indicated by P values less than 0.05. This finding demonstrated that qRT-PCR detects genes that were expressed in comparison with traditional PCR. Also, qRT-PCR is a more sensitive and accurate assay than conventional PCR for determining the quantitative prevalence of E. coli in urine samples.
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spelling doaj-art-238c914b80d34fd7acac3b4f367f6b612025-01-16T08:23:41ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Acta Biologica Slovenica1854-30732025-01-0168110.14720/abs.68.01.19574Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract InfectionsZainab Hussein Mahdi0Lina S. Alsaadi1Zainab Amer Hatem2Saade Abdalkareem Jasim3College of Education for Pure Sciences, University of Diyala, Diyala Gov, IraqCollege of Sciences, University of Diyala, Diyala Gov, IraqCollege of Sciences, University of Diyala, Diyala Gov, IraqMedical Laboratory Techniques Department, College of Health and Medical Technology, University of Al-maarif, Anbar, Iraq Escherichia coli is the most common type of Enterobacteriaceae family that causes urinary tract infections. This bacterium causes diseases due to its many virulence factors. During the study, (150) urine samples were collected for women with symptoms of UTIs aged between (20-50) years from 1/9/2021 to 1/4/2022. Forty-five isolates of E. coli were diagnosed using a biochemical test, a VITEK2 system, and molecular detection using traditional PCR. A molecular study was conducted on 25 of these isolates using conventional PCR and qRT-PCR to investigate the presence of genes included (16S rRNA, uidA,  fimA and kpsMTII). The traditional PCR results showed the presence of both 16S rRNA and uidA gene in all 25 isolates of E. coli. In contrast, the results showed that  23 (92%) and 18 (72%) isolates possessed fimA and kpsMTII genes, respectively. Following the extraction of RNA from twenty-five pathogenic isolates of E. coli and ten non-pathogenic isolates, gene expression of fimA and kpsMTII was quantified using quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). The observed fold change indicates a potential overexpression of the KSPMII and FimA genes in uropathogenic E. coli. The expression of the kpsMTII gene showed the highest level of folding with an average of 22.89 in the case of uropathogenic E.coli isolates compared with non-pathogenic isolates (control) with an average of 4.11. While the expression of the fimA gene with the highest level of fold change with an average of 90.52 in the case of uropathogenic E.coli isolates compared with non-pathogenic isolates (control) with an average of 0.94, Significant differences were observed among the isolates, as indicated by P values less than 0.05. This finding demonstrated that qRT-PCR detects genes that were expressed in comparison with traditional PCR. Also, qRT-PCR is a more sensitive and accurate assay than conventional PCR for determining the quantitative prevalence of E. coli in urine samples. https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/19574uropathogenic E.coli fimA kpsMTIIqRT-PCR
spellingShingle Zainab Hussein Mahdi
Lina S. Alsaadi
Zainab Amer Hatem
Saade Abdalkareem Jasim
Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections
Acta Biologica Slovenica
uropathogenic E.coli
fimA
kpsMTII
qRT-PCR
title Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections
title_full Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections
title_fullStr Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections
title_full_unstemmed Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections
title_short Qualitative and Quantitative Detection of Virulence-Associated Genes in Escherichia Coli Isolates from Women with Urinary Tract Infections
title_sort qualitative and quantitative detection of virulence associated genes in escherichia coli isolates from women with urinary tract infections
topic uropathogenic E.coli
fimA
kpsMTII
qRT-PCR
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/19574
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