This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Beutin, L.
Right arrow Articles by Oswald, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Beutin, L.
Right arrow Articles by Oswald, E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, July 2003, p. 3995-4002, Vol. 71, No. 7
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.7.3995-4002.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

HEp-2 Cell Adherence, Actin Aggregation, and Intimin Types of Attaching and Effacing Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Healthy Infants in Germany and Australia

Lothar Beutin,1* Olivier Marchés,2 Karl A. Bettelheim,3 Kerstin Gleier,1 Sonja Zimmermann,1 Herbert Schmidt,4 and Eric Oswald2

Division of Emerging Bacterial Pathogens, Department of Biological Safety, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin,1 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden Germany;,4 Laboratoire associé INRA/ENVT de Microbiologie Moléculaire, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, 31000 Toulouse, France,2 Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, Public Health Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia3

Received 15 October 2002/ Returned for modification 28 January 2003/ Accepted 6 April 2003

Fecal samples from healthy children under 2 years of age living in Berlin, Germany (205 infants), and Melbourne, Australia (184 infants), were investigated for the presence of attaching and effacing (AE) Escherichia coli (AEEC) strains by screening for eae (intimin) genes. Twenty-seven AEEC strains were isolated from 14 children (7.6%) from Melbourne and from 12 children (5.9%) from Berlin. The 27 AEEC strains were classified as enterohemorrhagic E. coli (one strain, producing Shiga toxin 1), typical enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) (one strain carrying an EPEC adherence factor [EAF] plasmid), and atypical EPEC (25 strains negative for Shiga toxins and EAF plasmids). The AEEC were divided into 18 different serotypes, O-nontypeable and O-rough strains. Typing of their intimin genes revealed the presence of intimin {alpha} in 6 strains, intimin ß in 11 strains, intimin {gamma} in 7 strains, intimin {zeta} in 2 strains, and intimin {eta} in one strain. Analysis of HEp-2 cell adherence showed diffuse adherence or localized adherence-like patterns in 26 AEEC strains; local adherence was found only with the EAF-positive strain. Ten AEEC strains showed an AE property with the fluorescent actin staining (FAS) test. The introduction of an EAF plasmid (pMAR7) converted 11 FAS-negative AEEC strains to FAS positive and increased the FAS reaction in six FAS-positive AEEC strains, indicating that the genes needed for the AE phenotype were functional in these strains. Our finding indicates that atypical EPEC strains could play a double role as strains that naturally immunize against intimin in humans and as reservoirs for new emerging human pathogenic EPEC strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Safety (ZBS3), Robert Koch Institut, Nordufer 20, D-13353 Berlin, Germany. Phone: 49 30 45 47 2484. Fax: 49 30 45 47 2673. E-mail: BeutinL{at}rki.de.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

Infection and Immunity, July 2003, p. 3995-4002, Vol. 71, No. 7
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.7.3995-4002.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Moura, R. A., Sircili, M. P., Leomil, L., Matte, M. H., Trabulsi, L. R., Elias, W. P., Irino, K., Pestana de Castro, A. F. (2009). Clonal Relationship among Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Different Animal Species and Humans. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 7399-7408 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Muller, D., Benz, I., Liebchen, A., Gallitz, I., Karch, H., Schmidt, M. A. (2009). Comparative Analysis of the Locus of Enterocyte Effacement and Its Flanking Regions. Infect. Immun. 77: 3501-3513 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Afset, J. E., Bruant, G., Brousseau, R., Harel, J., Anderssen, E., Bevanger, L., Bergh, K. (2006). Identification of Virulence Genes Linked with Diarrhea Due to Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli by DNA Microarray Analysis and PCR.. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 3703-3711 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Blanco, M., Blanco, J. E., Dahbi, G., Mora, A., Alonso, M. P., Varela, G., Gadea, M. P., Schelotto, F., Gonzalez, E. A., Blanco, J. (2006). Typing of intimin (eae) genes from enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) isolated from children with diarrhoea in Montevideo, Uruguay: identification of two novel intimin variants ({micro}B and {xi}R/{beta}2B).. J Med Microbiol 55: 1165-1174 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chapman, T. A., Wu, X.-Y., Barchia, I., Bettelheim, K. A., Driesen, S., Trott, D., Wilson, M., Chin, J. J.-C. (2006). Comparison of Virulence Gene Profiles of Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Healthy and Diarrheic Swine.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 4782-4795 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Garrido, P., Blanco, M., Moreno-Paz, M., Briones, C., Dahbi, G., Blanco, J., Blanco, J., Parro, V. (2006). STEC-EPEC Oligonucleotide Microarray: A New Tool for Typing Genetic Variants of the LEE Pathogenicity Island of Human and Animal Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) Strains. Clin. Chem. 52: 192-201 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hornitzky, M. A., Mercieca, K., Bettelheim, K. A., Djordjevic, S. P. (2005). Bovine Feces from Animals with Gastrointestinal Infections Are a Source of Serologically Diverse Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Strains That Commonly Possess Intimin. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 3405-3412 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Feng, L., Wang, W., Tao, J., Guo, H., Krause, G., Beutin, L., Wang, L. (2004). Identification of Escherichia coli O114 O-Antigen Gene Cluster and Development of an O114 Serogroup-Specific PCR Assay. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 3799-3804 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beutin, L., Krause, G., Zimmermann, S., Kaulfuss, S., Gleier, K. (2004). Characterization of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Human Patients in Germany over a 3-Year Period. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 1099-1108 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»