TosA， a putative repeats-in-toxin protein that has recently gained importance as an antigenic molecule， has characteristics of nonfimbrial adhesins and can act as a virulence marker in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains; however， little is known about the association of this protein with antibiotic resistance profiles in UPEC tosA clinical strains. The aim of this study was to evaluate UPEC tosA strains， including examining genetic diversity， associations with phylogenetic groups， resistance profiles， virulence genes， adherence assays， integrons， and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase phenotypes. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis grouped these strains into eight clusters wit... More
TosA， a putative repeats-in-toxin protein that has recently gained importance as an antigenic molecule， has characteristics of nonfimbrial adhesins and can act as a virulence marker in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains; however， little is known about the association of this protein with antibiotic resistance profiles in UPEC tosA clinical strains. The aim of this study was to evaluate UPEC tosA strains， including examining genetic diversity， associations with phylogenetic groups， resistance profiles， virulence genes， adherence assays， integrons， and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase phenotypes. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis grouped these strains into eight clusters with 62% genetic diversity. These strains were mainly associated with the multidrug-resistant profiles， together with an association with class 1 integron and the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase phenotype. Additionally， the strains exhibited a distribution of ≥96% for core-associated genes， while a variable distribution was identified for pathogenic islands-associated genes. Strong associations between UPEC tosA strains and two phylogenetic groups (B2 and D) were identified， including resistance to β-lactam and non-β-lactam antibiotics. The UPEC tosA clinical strains exhibited major adherence， which was related to the fitness and virulence genes. A recombinant TosA protein reacted with antibodies from the sera of urinary tract infection patients， and anti-recombinant TosA polyclonal antibodies also detected TosA expression in these strains. In conclusion， strains of UPEC tosA belonging to phylogenetic group B2 had a high frequency of fitness and virulence genes associated with class 1 integrons and the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase phenotype， which exhibited a high adherence profile. The TosA protein is expressed during infection with UPEC and is considered an immunogenic molecule.
