Relationship among enterotoxigenic phenotypes, serotypes, and sources of strains in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.
The relationship among O groups, O:H serotypes and enterotoxigenic phenotypes was examined in 76 Escherichia coli strains isolated in Brazil from different sources. Of the 17 heat-labile and -stable enterotoxin (LT/ST)-producing strains whose O antigens were identified, 15 belonged to serotypes O6:H16 (7 strains), O63:H- (5 strains), and O139:H28 (3 strains). All 11 ST strains were in group OO128PAC, which was represented by four O:H serotypes. The 23 LT strains with the O antigen identified were distributed among serotypes of 14 O groups. Colonization factor CFA/I was not found in any of the LT strains, but it was found in six LT/ST and three ST strains. On the whole, each E. coli O:H serotype had a particular fermentation pattern. LT/ST as well as ST strains were all isolated from patients with diarrhea, whereas LT strains were isolated from patients with diarrhea, normal children, food, and river water.
D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D012703:Serotyping; D014871:Water Microbiology
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins