Do Escherichia coli express Fc-receptors for immunoglobulin?

A recent publication in Molecular Immunology by Leo and Goldman doi:10.1016/j.molimm.2009.02.024 has shown that the Escherichia coli immunoglobulin-binding (Eib) proteins are receptors for IgG and IgA. We would like to highlight important issues that were not addressed in their recent manuscript whilst providing possible explanations for observed differences in their study with earlier work from our own laboratory Ghumra and Pleass, 2007 in which we were unable to identify Fc-binding activity from these important organisms.