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ABSTRACT: Intestinal pathogenic Escherichia (E.) coli strains are a major cause of worldwide morbidity and in some cases, mortality. Several pathological types of E.coli have been characterized based on their different virulence genes and also on their pattern of adherence to tissue culture cells. Among these pathovars, enteropathogenic E.coli (EPEC) strains have a high prevalence in clinical samples. EPEC are diarrheagenic strains which produce characteristic histopathological lesions known as attaching and effacing (A/E) on intestinal cells and do not produce Shiga, Shiga-like, or verotoxins. One useful tool in distinguishing this type of strains is represented by the PCR technique. The purpose of this study was to find a new, reliable protocol in order to identify EPEC strains from clinical and river water samples. We focused not only on the detection of the EPEC bundle forming pili specific gene but also on two other genes, one conserved in all Enterobacteriaceae and the other in a conserved region specific for E. coli.
Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry. 01/2011;
