Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 56, 200-204, 2003

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Original Article

Evaluation of Automated Ribotyping System for Characterization and Identification of Verocytotoxin-Producing Escherichia coli Isolated in Japan

Yuji Ito, Yoshitsugu Iinuma3*, Hisashi Baba1, Yasuteru Sugino, Yoshinori Hasegawa, Kaoru Shimokata, Satoshi Ichiyama3, Tadao Hasegawa2 and Michio Ohta2

Department of Respiratory Medicine, 1Department of Infectious Disease and 2Department of Molecular Bacteriology, Nagoya University Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Nagoya 466-8560 and 3Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan

(Received June 9, 2003. Accepted November 4, 2003)


*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Shogoin Kawara-cho 54, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. Tel: +81-75-751-3476, Fax: +81-75-751-3758, E-mail: yiinuma@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp



SUMMARY: The usefulness of an automated ribotyping system (RiboPrinter) was evaluated for characterizing and identifying clinical isolates of 37 verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains and 16 non-VTEC strains. All strains were successfully ribotyped with satisfactory reproducibility and stability and characterized into 10 different ribogroups. All VTEC O157 strains were characterized into a specific ribogroup and correctly typed into the specific DuPont ID for VTEC O157:H7, while all of the non-VTEC O157 strains were clearly distinguished from VTEC O157. VTEC O26 and O111 strains, the most prevalent VTEC serotypes after O157, were also well characterized into specific ribogroups and identified. These results suggest that the RiboPrinter may have an advantage over other typing systems in that it can rapidly and easily discriminate VTEC from non-VTEC strains of the most prevalent VTEC serotypes in Japan, even though it provides a lesser degree of discrimination than pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). With a hierarchical or sequential typing combining the RiboPrinter and PFGE, rapid and accurate typing can be achieved during an outbreak of VTEC, which may be useful in clinical and public health settings.


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