A functional synergy was previously demonstrated between microcin, salmochelin and colibactin islands in Escherichia coli strains from B2 phylogroup. We aimed to determine this association prevalence in uropathogenic E. coli, and whether it was predictive of the infection severity in a collection of 225 E. coli strains from urinary samples. The high prevalence of this triad, even if it wasn't correlated with infection severity, suggested that it might not be a virulence factor per se within the urinary tract, but would promote its colonization. This triad would enable the strain to dominate the rectal reservoir with a minimal genetic cost.

中文翻译：

---

尿路致病性大肠杆菌中微素，大肠杆菌素和salmochelin基因簇之间的协同三联体。

先前在来自B2系统族的大肠杆菌菌株中的微素，沙门麦角菌素和大肠菌素岛之间证实了功能协同作用。我们旨在确定这种在尿路致病性大肠杆菌中的患病率，以及它是否可以预测从尿液样本中收集到的225种大肠杆菌菌株的感染严重程度。即使与感染的严重程度无关，该三联征的高患病率也表明它可能不是泌尿道本身的致病因子，但会促进其定植。该三联体将使菌株能够以最小的遗传成本控制直肠储库。