Enterotoxin production at 4 degrees, 22 degrees, and 37 degrees C and Y. enterocolitica-like bacteria.
Production of heat-stable enterotoxin after cultivation at 4 degrees C for four days was indicated for 27 of 171 Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. enterocolitica-like bacteria, using the infant mouse assay. Of these 27 strains, 11 showed enterotoxin production at both 4 degrees and 22 degrees C, and the remaining 16 strains at 4 degrees, 22 degrees, and 37 degrees C. No strain was enterotoxigenic at 4 degrees C only. The relative prevalence of enterotoxin production at 4 degrees, 22 degrees, and 37 degrees C among Y. enterocolitica and Y. enterocolitica-like bacteria is presented. The results indicate that Y. kristensenii has a unique standing with respect to enterotoxigenicity at 4 degrees and at 37 degrees C. Y. kristensenii showed the highest prevalence of enterotoxin production at 4 degrees C (47%) and at 37 degrees C(49%). These properties were also recorded among environmental isolates of Y. enterocolitica sensu stricto, but the prevalences were low (4 and 1 %, respectively). The strains producing enterotoxin at 4 degrees C were different from those associated with yersiniosis and belonged to serogroups frequently isolated from small mammals, water, and soil (0:1, 6, 11, 12, 16, 28, and non-agglutinable). It is possible that such strains may contaminate foods and provoke food-borne intoxication involving pre-formed enterotoxins.
D000818:Animals; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012377:Rodentia / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D014871:Water Microbiology; D015007:Yersinia / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*
D004768:Enterotoxins