The Escherichia coli strain that is known to produce the genotoxic secondary metabolite colibactin is linked to colorectal oncogenesis. Therefore, understanding the properties of such colibactin-positive E. coli and the molecular mechanism of oncogenesis by colibactin may provide us with opportunities for early diagnosis or prevention of colorectal oncogenesis. While there have been major advances in the characterization of colibactin-positive E. coli and the toxin it produces, the infection route of the clb + strain remains poorly characterized. We examined infants and their treatments during and post-birth periods to examine potential transmission of colibactin-positive E. coli to infants. Here, analysis of fecal samples of infants over the first month of birth for the presence of a colibactin biosynthetic gene revealed that the bacterium may be transmitted from mother to infant through intimate contacts, such as natural childbirth and breastfeeding, but not through food intake. Our finding suggests that transmission of colibactin-positive E. coli appears to be occurring at the very early stage of life of the newborn and hints at the possibility of developing early preventive measures against colorectal cancer.

中文翻译：

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产生致癌大肠杆菌素的细菌的母婴传播

已知产生遗传毒性次级代谢物大肠杆菌素的大肠杆菌菌株与结肠直肠癌发生有关。因此，了解这种大肠杆菌素阳性大肠杆菌的特性以及大肠杆菌素致癌的分子机制，可能为我们提供早期诊断或预防结直肠癌发生的机会。虽然在大肠杆菌素阳性大肠杆菌及其产生的毒素的表征方面取得了重大进展，但 clb + 菌株的感染途径仍然缺乏表征。我们检查了婴儿及其在出生期间和出生后的治疗，以检查大肠杆菌素阳性大肠杆菌向婴儿的潜在传播。这里，对出生后第一个月婴儿粪便样本中大肠杆菌素生物合成基因的分析表明，该细菌可能通过自然分娩和母乳喂养等亲密接触从母亲传播给婴儿，但不会通过食物摄入。我们的发现表明，大肠杆菌素阳性大肠杆菌的传播似乎发生在新生儿生命的早期阶段，并暗示有可能制定早期预防结直肠癌的措施。