Identifying and determining the Classes I, II, and III papG Gene of Escherichia Coli Isolated from Patients with Urinary Tract Infections

Escherichia coli strains with ability to cause urinary tract infection (UTI) are called uropathogenic strains. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli expresses a variety of cell adhesions, such as adhesion PaP (pyelonephritis associated pili), that causes the urinary tract infection via binding to the surface of epithelial cells. P pili facilitates the colonization of bacteria, prevents the elimination of bacteria via flow of urine filtration and increases kidney tissue proliferation and invasion. PapG adheres at the tip of P pili, and has three different classes. This study aimed to identify and determine the frequency of encoding papG genes in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. In this study, 55 samples of patients with urinary tract infection werecollected from clinical laboratories in Tehran city, Iran. After the extraction of bacteria DNA, the papG I, papG II and papG III genes were investigated using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (Multiplex PCR) method. 18 samples (32.7%) were papG gene positive. Of those 18 samples, 17 (30.9%) were papG II, and 1 (1.8%) was papG III gene positive. PapG I gene was not detected in any of the samples. The results showed that papG II gene is the most common gene encoding adhesion papG of the P pili in Escherichia coli isolated from urinary tract infections in Tehran. This could be valuable information in the diagnosis of urinary tract infection and provide future treatment strategies.