Background
Genomes of the model bacterium, Escherichia coli, exhibit high plasticity caused by gene gain/loss via pathoadaptive mutations, genetic rearrangement, and horizontal gene transfer [1, 2]. This genetic variability is also translated into a remarkable phenotypic and pathotypic diversity: while some E. coli strains normally inhabit the mammalian colon, other pathotypes cause a wide range of intestinal and extraintestinal diseases that include mild intestinal disturbance but also severe urinary tract infections and outbreaks of shigellosis-like dysentery or cholera-like watery diarrhea [1]. In this study, we focus on enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), one of the world's deadliest infectious agents, which also represents a serious public health in Egypt's rural areas. Our aim is to integrate multiple bioinformatics tools to determine horizontally transferred, pathotype-specific signature genes as targets for specific, high-throughput molecular diagnostic tools and reverse vaccinology screens.