, 2012). Recently, the variation in manure-amended soil survival capability among 18 E. coli O157 isolates was studied and a strong relationship between the individual metabolic capacity and long-term survival of the strains was observed (Franz et al., 2011). In particular, oxidative capacity on propionic acid, α-ketobutyric acid and Trametinib cell line α-hydroxybutyric acid was strongly correlated with enhanced survival. Recent gene expression studies showed that rpoS mutants of E. coli O157 demonstrated an impaired ability to oxidize these three fatty acids

(Dong et al., 2009). Intrigued by this observation, the isolates used in the soil survival experiment (Franz et al., 2011) were screened for rpoS allelic variations. It was hypothesized that the conditions in manure-amended soil favour a functional RpoS system. Consequently, the manure-amended soil environment would be an unlikely source of rpoS mutants. As the bovine intestine forms the principal reservoir of E. coli O157 and humans can be considered a transient host with distinct conditions in

the gastrointestinal tract, it was hypothesized that the human gut could provide a niche for the rise and selection of rpoS mutants. Therefore, the prevalence of rpoS allelic variations among a set of 187 E. coli O157 isolates of bovine, food and human origin (Franz et al., 2012) was determined. The detailed characteristics of the E. coli O157 strains used in the manure-amended soil survival Maraviroc study as well as the set of 187 strains (73 bovine, 29 food and 85 human clinical isolates) have been described in detail previously (Franz et al., 2011, 2012). Most of the strains were isolated and stored, and have no history of prolonged laboratory use. The complete rpoS gene was amplified using the following primers: rpoS_−130F, 5′-CTTGCATTTTGAAATTCGTTAC-3′; and rpoS_+125R, 5′-GATGATGAACACATAGGATGC-3′ in a 50-μL PCR mixture containing 1 × PCR buffer (Invitrogen BV, Breda, the Netherlands), 2.5 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM

dNTPs, 0.2 μM of each primer, 1 U Taq DNA polymerase (Invitrogen BV) and 2 μL DNA template (± 20 ng). The following PCR programme was used: one cycle of 95 °C for 5 min; 35 cycles of 95 °C for 30 s, 56 °C for 30 s and Protirelin 72 °C for 60 s; one cycle 72 °C for 10 min. The PCR product was treated with ExoSAP-IT (GE Healthcare, Diegem, the Netherlands) to remove unwanted deoxynucleotides and primers. The sequence of the generated PCR product was determined using the ABI Big Dye Terminator kit and an ABI 3730 DNA Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Bleiswijk, the Netherlands). The PCR primers were used for sequencing as well two others: rpoS_−4F, 5′-CCTTATGAGTCAGAATACGC-3′; rpoS_773R, 5′-CTCTGCTTCATATCGTCATC-3′. The functioning of the RpoS general stress resistance system was determined phenotypically by growth on succinate minimal medium (Chiang et al., 2011).