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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1528-1536, Vol. 70, No. 3
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1528-1536.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

High Diversity among Environmental Escherichia coli Isolates from a Bovine Feedlot

Hsiao-Hui Yang,1 Robert T. Vinopal,1 Domenico Grasso,2 and Barth F. Smets1,3*

Microbiology Program, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology,1 Environmental Engineering Program, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269,3 Picker Engineering Program, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 010632

Received 14 July 2003/ Accepted 27 November 2003

Approximately 280 Escherichia coli isolates were isolated from a bovine feedlot at the University of Connecticut campus via enrichment in lauryl tryptose broth and random selection from MacConkey plates. The E. coli subspecies diversity was estimated by employing whole-cell BOX-PCR genomic fingerprints. A total of 89 distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified by employing a criterion of 85% fingerprint similarity as a surrogate for an OTU, while the Chao1 index estimated the E. coli population richness at 128 OTUs. One genotype (at a similarity level of 60%) dominated the population at 66% regardless of sampling depth or location, while no significant vertical distribution pattern was observed in terms of genotype, mobility, antibiotic resistance profile, or biofilm-forming ability. Motility, measured by a soft agar assay, had a very broad range among the E. coli population and was positively correlated with biofilm-forming ability in minimal medium (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient r = 0.619, P < 10–4) but not in Luria broth. Only an estimated 48% of the population possessed gene agn43, which encodes Ag43, a phase-variable outer membrane protein that has been implicated in biofilm formation in minimal medium. We observed significantly more biofilm formation in both minimal medium and Luria broth for agn43+ strains, with a larger effect in minimal medium. This study represents an exhaustive inventory of extant E. coli population diversity at a bovine feedlot and reveals significant subspecies heterogeneity in interfacial behavior.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: 261 Glenbrook Rd., Unit 2037, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2037. Phone: (860) 486-2270. Fax: (860) 486-2298. E-mail: barth.smets{at}uconn.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1528-1536, Vol. 70, No. 3
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1528-1536.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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