Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Microbial Physiology and Metabolism

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1635769

Prevalence, sequence diversity and amplification of an IS-associated enterotoxin gene, astA, in Escherichia coli

Provisionally accepted
Tadasuke  OokaTadasuke Ooka1*Sakura  AraiSakura Arai2Ken-ichi  LeeKen-ichi Lee3Yasuhiro  GotohYasuhiro Gotoh4Akiko  KubomuraAkiko Kubomura3Naoko  ImutaNaoko Imuta1Yukiko  Hara-KudoYukiko Hara-Kudo5Sunao  IyodaSunao Iyoda3Tetsuya  HayashiTetsuya Hayashi6Junichiro  NishiJunichiro Nishi7
  • 1Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
  • 2National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Japan
  • 3National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
  • 4National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan
  • 5Hoshi Yakka Daigaku, Shinagawa, Japan
  • 6Kyushu Daigaku, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 7Kagoshima Daigaku, Kagoshima, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin 1 (EAST1) encoded by the astA gene was first identified in an enteroaggregative E. coli strain isolated from a patient with persistent diarrhea. While astA-positive strains sometimes cause large food poisoning outbreaks, the significance of EAST1 as a virulence factor remains unclear. Additionally, although the prototype and seven variants of the astA gene have been identified, the biological significance of these genetic variations remains undefined. In this study, we investigated sequence diversity of the astA gene and its distribution in the entire E. coli lineage using 2,726 E. coli strains isolated from children with diarrhea in Kagoshima, Japan, and 9,065 publicly available finished E. coli genomes. The results showed that 185 (6.8%) of the Kagoshima strains and 690 (7.6%) of the database strains had similar possession rates. We identified 31 sequence variations (four known and 27 new variants [V8-34]) which were widely distributed in the entire E. coli lineages. Detailed sequence analyses revealed that 31 of the 35 astA gene types are intact and encode 23 types of EAST1 peptides. Although all 35 types were associated with IS1414, only three (prototype, V30, and V31) of the 31 intact astA gene types were encoded in the intact IS1414. A notable number of prototype-bearing strains (43/146 strains) possessed multiple copies (two to 11 copies) of this type of astA gene, indicating that the amplification has predominantly occurred in the prototype, which was driven by IS1414 amplification. However, given that the IS1414 associated with V30 and V31 also remain structurally intact, it is plausible that similar amplification events may occur in these variants in the future. These results provide an important basis to investigate the virulence of the astA-positive strains and the role of EAST1 as a virulence factor.

Keywords: Escherichia coli, EAST1, astA variant, IS1414, Genotype

Received: 28 May 2025; Accepted: 03 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Ooka, Arai, Lee, Gotoh, Kubomura, Imuta, Hara-Kudo, Iyoda, Hayashi and Nishi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Tadasuke Ooka, taohoka1@m.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.