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Location Of Increased Serum Survival Gene And Selected Virulence Traits On A Conjugative R Plasmid In An Avian Escherichia Coli Isolate, Timothy J. Johnson, Catherine W. Giddings, Shelley M. Horne, Penelope S. Gibbs, Richard E. Wooley, Jerod Skyberg, Pam Olah, Ronda Kercher, Julie S. Sherwood, Steven L. Foley, Lisa K. Nolan

Lisa K. Nolan

Avian colibacillosis is a costly disease for the poultry industry. The mechanisms of virulence employed by the etiologic agent of this disease remain ill defined. However, accumulated evidence suggests that complement resistance and the presence of the increased serum survival gene (iss) in an avian Escherichia coli isolate may be indicative of its ability to cause disease. This association of iss with the E. coli implicated in avian disease may mean that iss and/or, perhaps, the genes associated with it are important contributors to avian E. coli virulence. For this reason, we have begun a search for iss's location in …