Expression of Escherichia coli F-18 type 1 fimbriae in the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine

Abstract

Escherichia coli F-18, isolated from the feces of a healthy human, makes type 1 fimbriae and is an excellent colonizer of the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine. Recently, it was shown that the inability to produce type 1 fimbriae had no effect on the ability of E. coli F-18 to colonize the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine, suggesting the possibility that E. coli F-18 does not express type 1 fimbriae in vivo. However, we show here that E. coli F-18 does express type 1 fimbriae in mouse cecal mucus in vivo and, in fact, appears to express substantially more type 1 fimbriae in cecal mucus in vivo than in L broth in vitro.