Characterization and Virulence Assessment of Two 091:821 Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia Coli Isolates
Abstract
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) cause food-borne hemorrhagic colitis and the hemolytic uremic syndrome. EHEC produce Shiga-like toxin(s) (SLTs) type I (SLT-I) or type II (SLT-II) or both. SLTs consist of one A subunit and five B subunits and cause inhibition of protein synthesis and subsequent cell death. E. coli K-12 strains which produce high levels of SLT-II but not SLT-I were previously shown to be virulent in an orally-infected, streptomycin-treated mouse model. In this investigation, the pathogenicity of several SLT-II-producing EHEC isolates was compared. All of the strains tested colonized the mouse intestine. However, only two strains were consistently virulent for mice: 091:H21 strain B2Fl(Str') which carries two copies of slt-II-related toxins, sit-Ilvha and sit-Ilvhb, and 091:H21 strain H414-36/89 (str') which was found in this study to contain three genes from the sIt-II toxin group.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 1993
- Accession Number
- AD1011283
Entities
People
- Susanne W. Lindgren
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences