## 2 Results
### Distribution of Virulence Factors and Phylogenetic Clustering of Isolates
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{10}{c}{No. (\%) of UPEC Isolates Identified in the Clemont Phylogroups} & \multicolumn{10}{c}{**Statistical Analysis of Distribution of Virulence Genes and Phylogenetics**} \\ \cline{2-13}
**Varience** & \multicolumn{10}{c}{**Fishers**} \\
**genes** & **A** & **B1** & **B2** & **C** & **D** & **F** & **Indefinite** & **Total** & **B1** 1** & **B2** 1** & **Exact Test** \\  & **n = 3** & **n = 13** & **n = 86** & **n = 2** & **n = 9** & **n = 4** & **n = 3** & **n = 120** & **n = 13** & **n = 86** & **p Value** \\  & & & & & & & & & & & **(B1 vs. B2)** \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{Adhesins} \\ _fimH_ & 3 (100) & 13 (100) & 86 (100) & 2 (100) & 9 (100) & 4 (100) & 3 (100) & 120 (100) & ns & ns & ns \\ _fimH_ & 2 (67) & 6 (46) & 66 (77) & 1 (50) & 5 (56) & 2 (50) & 2 (66.7) & 84 (70) & ns & 0.0148 & 0.0398 \\ _pgrC_ & 0 & 1 (8) & 60 (70) & 0 & 5 (56) & 2 (50) & 0 & 68 (56.7) & 0.0002 & \textless{}0.0001 & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline _fieA_ & 0 & 1 (8) & 22 (26) & 0 & 0 & 1 (25) & 0 & 24 (20) & ns & 0.0207 & ns \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{Toxins} \\ _fimH_ & 0 & 1 (8) & 51 (59) & 1 (50) & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 53 (41.2) & 0.0061 & \textless{}0.0001 & 0.0006 \\ _cdf_ & 0 & 0 & 29 (34) & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 29 (24.2) & 0.0364 & \textless{}0.0001 & 0.0093 \\ \hline _ar_ & 2 (67) & 9 (69) & 63 (73) & 2 (100) & 7 (78) & 4 (100) & 3 (100) & 90 (75) & ns & ns & ns \\ _stilA_ & 3 (100) & 9 (69) & 82 (99) & 1 (50) & 9 (100) & 4 (100) & 3 (100) & 111(92.5) & ns & ns & 0.0097 \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{Serum Resistance} \\ _iss_ & 2 (67) & 6 (46) & 10 (12) & 1 (50) & 1 (11) & 0 & 2 (67) & 22 (18.3) & 0.0141 & 0.0042 & 0.0061 \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{B Biofilm formation} \\ _qgr43b_ & 0 & 0 & 48 (55.8) & 0 & 1 (11.1) & 1 (25) & 1 (33.3) & 51 (42.5) & \textless{}0.0001 & \textless{}0.0001 & 0.0001 \\ \hline Mean; Range & 4 & \multirow{2}{*}{3.52 (2–6)} & 4 & \multirow{2}{*}{6.01 (2–10)} & 4 & \multirow{2}{*}{4.25 (3–6)} & 4.66 & \multirow{2}{*}{5.43 (2–10)} & \multirow{2}{*}{-0.0001} \\ of VF & & (2–5) & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \multicolumn{13}{c}{“ns” indicates that the result is not statistically significant. 1”The statistical analysis of B1 and R2 individuals was conducted against the whole group of strains (n = 120).} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: UPEC virulence genes categorized according to their occurrence in [PERSON]’s phylogroups. The high genetic diversity of the strains is shown on a dendrogram (Figure 3). Based on the UPGAMA method, a dendrogram was constructed in which 120 strains were grouped, based on the presence of virulence genes. Altogether, 51 different virtulotypes were delineated. The most common genotypes were: (i) _fim, sfa, papC, hlyA, aer, sitA,_ and _agn43_; (ii) _fim, sfa, papC, hlyA, aer, cnf, sitA_, and _agn43_; (iii) _fim, sfa, papC, aer,_ and _sitA_; (iv) _fim, sfa, papC, cnf, sitA_, and _agn43_; and (v) _fim, sfa, cnf, sitA_, and _agn43_, and these accounted for 27.5% of the population studied. It is also worth noting that the most common virotypes present are characterized by a large number of virulence factors. Overall, the occurrence of three or more VFs was recorded in 115 isolates, which represents 95.8% of the studied population. Figure 3: Genetic relationships among UPEC strains. The dendrogram was created by the UPGMA method using the DendroUPGAMA server [36]. Colors mark the different phylogenetic groups identified, and strains that form biofilm on Congo red agar are underlined. The dashed lines divide the dendrogram into four clusters. The first cluster brings together all strains encoding the _cnt_ gene.