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Combinations of putative virulence markers in typical and variant enteroaggregative Escherichia coli strains from children with and without diarrhoea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2002

W. P. ELIAS ,
A. P. UBER ,
S. K. TOMITA ,
L. R. TRABULSI  and
T. A. T. GOMES
W. P. ELIAS
Affiliation:
Laboratório Especial de Microbiologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
A. P. UBER
Affiliation:
Laboratório Especial de Microbiologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
S. K. TOMITA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 862, São Paulo, SP, 04023-062, Brazil
L. R. TRABULSI
Affiliation:
Laboratório Especial de Microbiologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
T. A. T. GOMES
Affiliation:
Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 862, São Paulo, SP, 04023-062, Brazil
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Abstract

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Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is defined by the ability to produce aggregative adherence (AA) to cultured cells. We analysed 128 EAEC strains, isolated from children with and without diarrhoea, regarding the presence of 11 EAEC virulence genes. Seventy strains carried and 58 lacked the EAEC probe sequence; 17 probe positive and 31 probe negative strains showed variations in the AA pattern. All EAEC probe positive strains carried at least one EAEC marker; aspU (94.3%), irp2 (91.4%), and aggR (74.3%) were the most prevalent. Conversely, among the EAEC probe negative strains, 41.4% were devoid of any marker and astA predominated (44.8%). No significant statistical difference in the prevalence of any marker between cases and controls in both EAEC probe groups or AA variants was found. We suggest that the EAEC probe positive strains may have a higher pathogenic potential or alternatively, EAEC probe negative strains may harbour virulence factors as yet undescribed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 129 , Issue 1 , August 2002 , pp. 49 - 55
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press