Distribution of Virulence-Associated Genes of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Isolates in China

216 avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) isolates were obtained from poultry with colibacillosis in different areas of China. Among them, 195 were serotyped as O78, O88, and O93. Thirteen virulence-associated genes, including fimC, iucD, iss, tsh, fyuA, irp2, eaeA, hlyE, colV, papC, stx2f, vat, and astA, were submitted to PCR amplification. The fimC gene was the most prevalent with a detection rate of 93.6%, followed by iucD (70.8%), iss (58.8%), and tsh (51.4%) in APEC isolates. The detection rate of high pathogenicity islands (HPI)-associated fyuA and irp2 genes were both 44.9%, with no LEE (the locus of enterocyte effacement) island-associated gene eaeA detected. In terms of distribution patterns of the 13 virulence-associated genes, 5 isolates harborbed 10 genes, 19 isolates contained only fimC gene, and only 4 isolates had no virulence-associated gene detected. Different correlations of the virulence-associated genes with O serotypes were also investigated and 50% O78 isolates had a gene distribution patterns of fimC+iucD+irp2+fyuA+iss+colV+tsh+.