Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1999, p. 2399-2401, Vol. 37, No. 8
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Microbial Diseases Laboratory, Division of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley, California 94704-1011,1 and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh2
Received 8 February 1999/Returned for modification 9 April 1999/Accepted 19 April 1999
We analyzed five bacterial strains, designated 19982, 9194, 10457, 10790, and 12502, that were isolated from stool specimens of
individuals with diarrheal illness by the International Centre for
Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh (M. J. Albert, S. M. Faruque, M. Ansaruzzaman, M. M. Islam, K. Haider, K. Alam, I. Kabir, and R. Robins-Browne, J. Med. Microbiol.
37:310-314, 1992). The strains were initially identified as
Hafnia alvei with a commercial identification system and
were reported to contain the eae gene of enteropathogenic
Escherichia coli. Results of conventional biochemical
analyses, testing of susceptibility to cephalothin, lysis by a
Hafnia-specific phage, and amplification of the outer
membrane protein gene phoE with species-specific primers
support the identification of these strains as members of the genus
Escherichia rather than Hafnia alvei. These
strains varied from typical E. coli strains by their
inability to produce acid from lactose or D-sorbitol and
failure to elaborate the enzyme
-D-glucuronidase. PCR
analysis confirmed previous findings that the strains were positive for
the eae gene and negative for other virulence markers
present among recognized categories of diarrheagenic E. coli. Our findings support the hypothesis that these strains are
a new category of diarrheagenic isolates belonging to the genus
Escherichia and illustrate the importance of using multiple methodologies when identifying new bacterial agents of diarrheal disease.
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