Invasion and intracellular proliferation dynamics of non-pathogenic E. coli in model infection systems

In this report, we have investigated the behaviour of non-pathogenic Escherichia coli in various infection models at a single cell level using live cell fluorescence microscopy. Using different in vitro microfluidics and ex vivo mouse urinary tract model systems, we demonstrate that the standard laboratory E. coli strain MG1655 can, if given the opportunity, behave like an opportunistic pathogen, invading and proliferating inside bladder cells of various origin ( i.e., human and mouse). Upon exposure to additional stress by the addition of human urine, we further show that MG1655 induces infection related filamentation, and reversal back to rod shape when the stress is removed, indicating that infection related filamentation should be regarded as a stress response rather than a virulence factor. Taken together, our results show that under the optimal circumstances even a domesticated non-pathogenic lab strain can exhibit pathogenic traits.