Comparative Genomic Analysis of Globally Dominant ST131 Clone with Other Epidemiologically Successful Extraintestinal Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (ExPEC) Lineages

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131), a pandemic clone responsible for the high incidence of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) infections, has been known widely for its contribution to the worldwide dissemination of multidrug resistance. Although other ExPEC-associated and extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli clones, such as ST38, ST405, and ST648 have been studied widely, no comparative genomic data with respect to other genotypes exist for ST131. In this study, comparative genomic analysis was performed for 99 ST131 E. coli strains with 40 genomes from three other STs, including ST38 ( n = 12), ST405 ( n = 10), and ST648 ( n = 18), and functional studies were performed on five in-house strains corresponding to the four STs. Phylogenomic…