Background: The mechanisms and patterns of drug resistances of E. coli strains that cause uncomplicated urinary tract
infections (UTIs) vary considerably. The emerging herbresistance
of uropathogenic
Escherichia coli
(UPEC) has been a
serious health problem, yet with unknown underlying mechanisms.
Methods: To explore the potential herb-resistance mechanisms of E. coli strains that cause uncomplicated UTIs, three
clinically isolated herb-resistant UPEC strains (1351, 4996, 5028) were analyzed for their abilities to form biofilms and the
expressions of the
pga ABCD and luxS genes.
Results: We found that the expression of
pgaA and
pgaB are very different between 1351 and 5028, and the loss-of-function
of
luxS in 4996 has impact on biofilm formation.
Conclusions: 1. Herb-resistance of the strains is related to their abilities of biofilm formation. 2. Biofilm formation
capabilities of herb-resistant strains show different responses to the presence of glucose. 3.
luxS encoded AI-2 is not
essential for biofilm formation in this strain but may help with more biofilm formation.
