Biomedical Letters

Association of Pathogenicity Genes (cvaC, iss, iutA, Stx1A, Stx2A and Vat) of E. coli with Gross and Histopathological Lesions of Colibacillosis in Broilers

Hina Sharif 1, Muhammad Tariq Javed 1*, Hammad Ghafoor 7, Muhammad Younis 8, Saad Ullah Khan 9, Aziz ur Rehman 1, Khurram Ashfaq 2, Gulbina Saleem 3, Farkhanda Manzoor 4, Narmeen Tariq 5, Asim Rafique 6

1 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan

2 Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan

3 Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary and Animal Science, Lahore, Pakistan

4 Department of Zoology, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan

5 Institute of Microbiology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan

6 Department of Poultry Production, Government of Punjab, Faisalabad, Pakistan

7 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Southeast University Medical School, Nanjing, China

8 Institute of Life Sciences, Southeast University, Nanjing 210000, China

9 Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Jhang, Pakistan

Abstract

Colibacillosis is an important disease of poultry caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). The E. coli infection is associated with complications in chicken, which results in significant economic losses. For this purpose, study was conducted in the Faisalabad region of Pakistan. Study included the visits to the nearby poultry farms suspected of E. coli infections. The sampling was done from the farms and various diagnostic laboratories across Faisalabad region, including diagnostic laboratory University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan and district diagnostic laboratory. The main purpose of the study was to detect different pathogenicity genes (iutA, iss, cvaC, stx1, stx2 and vat) and associated lesions in broilers. Morbid organs including heart, liver, spleen, intestine, etc. of clinically positive birds were collected for histopathological studies and culture isolation. For histopathological study, tissues were preserved in 10% formalin. Culturing was done on MacConkey agar and the positive growth was confirmed on triple sugar iron agar. DNA was extracted from bacterial colonies. The gene was detected on different sample infected with E. coli through PCR. The results concluded that the prevalence of iutA genes was detected @ 96%, iss 88%, cvaC 64%, stx1 and stx2 @ 0%, while vat was detected 40% on different organs of broilers, respectively.