title: Identification of H-specific determinants in flagellin of four Escherichia coli strains.
abstract: The H serogroup of Escherichia coli is determined by the flagellar antigen, flagellin. Sequence analysis of the flagellin gene, fliC, reveals a central variable region and the highly conserved N- and C-termini. This variable region has been shown to encode both H-specific and cross-reactive epitopes. Using polyclonal antibodies, we mapped the linear H-specific determinants in flagellin from four E. coli serotypes O157:H10, 0138:H14, O157:H42 and O157:H43. The specificity of all potential fragments was verified with 52 ECRC (Escherichia coli Reference Center) H-specific antisera. Our results indicated that: (a) a specific determinant of H10 flagellin (1263 bp long) maps to the region covering amino acid residues 305-331; (b) a specific determinant of H14 flagellin (1653 bp long) maps to the region covering amino acid residues 430-461; (c) a specific determinant of H42 flagellin (1281 bp long) maps to a region covering amino acid residues 171-201; and (d) a specific determinant of H43 flagellin (1506 bp long) maps to a region covering amino acid residues 200-260.
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, The National University of Singapore.
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Seah
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D003429:Cross Reactions; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005408:Flagellin / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012703:Serotyping; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D017931:DNA Primers; D000939:Epitopes; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D005408:Flagellin