Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 58, 65-69, 2005
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Original Article
The Relationship between O-Antigens and Pathogenic
Genes of Diarrhea-Associated Escherichia coli
Yuichiro Tamaki*, Hiroshi Narimatsu1,
Tomoko Miyazato2, Noboru Nakasone,
Naomi Higa, Claudia Toma and Masaaki Iwanaga
Division of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Graduate School of Medicine,
University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0215, 1Division
of Microbiology, Oita Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment,
Oita 870-1117 and 2Adult Health and Nursing,
Okinawa Prefectural College of Nursing, Okinawa 902-0076, Japan
(Received July 16, 2004. Accepted December 6, 2004)
*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Division of Bacterial
Pathogenesis, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus,
207 Uehara, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan. Tel: +81-98-895-1124,
Fax: +81-98-895-1408, E-mail: k028762@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
SUMMARY: To evaluate the serogrouping-based diagnosis of
diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, a total of 1,130 strains
of E. coli isolated in several countries were studied.
The strains were regarded as enterovirulent on the basis of their
O-antigens determined using a commercially available kit containing
43 antisera, and the presence of diarrhea-associated genes (eae,
stx, aggR, est, elt, ipaH) was evaluated by PCR. Two hundred
sixty-three strains of 1,130 (23.3%) were identified as diarrheagenic
based on the presence of at least one pathogenic gene. The probability
that E. coli identified as diarrheagenic on the basis of
serogrouping actually possessed some pathogenic gene was highest
for serogroup O119 (78.4%); other serogroups with a positive rate
for pathogenic genes higher than 60% were O111 and O126. No target
genes were detected among the strains belonging to serogroups
O1, O29, O112ac, O143, O158 and O168. Our results suggest that,
in practice, serogrouping is useful for the identification of
diarrheagenic E. coli in a very limited number of serogroups.
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