Genome Sequencing of Seven Escherichia coli Strains Associated with Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Members of phylogenetic group B2 cause a majority of E. coli-caused diseases. The transcriptomes of model urinary tract infection associated E. coli (UTEC) strains UTI89 and CFT073, both group B2, are unlike group B2 UTEC strains from the ECOR collection (Hogins, Zimmern, and Reitzer, unpublished data). It is not clear which is representative of UTEC strains. The model UTEC strains may not be representative because of serial passage and subsequent lab evolution. To determine whether a representative group B2 UTEC, we isolated these seven group B2 strains from patients with recurrent UTIs.