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

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2002, p. 4619-4624, Vol. 40, No. 12
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.12.4619-4624.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Isolated in Italy and in France

Dipartimento di Igiene e Microbiologia, Università di Palermo, I-90127 Palermo,¹ Dipartimento G. F. Ingrassia, Igiene e Sanità Pubblica, Università di Catania, I-95124 Catania,² Laboratorio di Medicina Veterinaria, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, I-00161 Rome, Italy,⁴ Unité Biodiversité des Bactéries Pathogènes Emergentes, Institut Pasteur, F-75724 Paris Cedex 15, France³

Received 3 July 2002/ Returned for modification 22 July 2002/ Accepted 2 September 2002

Twenty-one Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains isolated in northern Italy from sporadic cases of hemolytic-uremic syndrome and from cattle and food were characterized by virulence gene analysis, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of XbaI-digested DNA, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) sequence-based PCR (ERIC-PCR), and antibiotic resistance patterns and compared to 18 strains isolated in France from human cases of diarrhea, cattle, and the environment. Strains isolated in Sicily (southern Italy) from a local farm (one strain) and from calves just imported from France (11 strains) and Spain (six strains) were also typed. Whereas the eae and hlyA genes were always detected, Shiga toxin gene (stx) analysis showed some differences related to geographic areas. Isolates from northern Italy showed a high frequency of stx₁ and stx₂, while strains isolated in France and from French and Spanish calves imported to Sicily more frequently possessed the stx_2c gene. The majority of the strains isolated in northern Italy were also resistant to one or more antibiotics, while most of the strains isolated in France and Sicily were fully susceptible. ERIC-PCR analysis was not able to differentiate the strains. PFGE typing after XbaI DNA digestion produced a total of 54 distinct restriction endonuclease digestion profiles (REDPs) among the 57 strains. Phylogenetic analysis was unable to cluster REDPs according to geographic origin. All epidemiologically related isolates showed either identical or 91% similar REDPs. Our findings suggest a peculiar circulation of antibiotic-resistant, genetically unrelated strains in northern Italy.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Vaz, T. M. I., Irino, K., Nishimura, L. S., Cergole-Novella, M. C., Guth, B. E. C. (2006). Genetic Heterogeneity of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains Isolated in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 1976 through 2003, as Revealed by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis.. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 798-804 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bidet, P., Mariani-Kurkdjian, P., Grimont, F., Brahimi, N., Courroux, C., Grimont, P., Bingen, E. (2005). Characterization of Escherichia coli O157 : H7 isolates causing haemolytic uraemic syndrome in France. J Med Microbiol 54: 71-75 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mora, A., Blanco, M., Blanco, J. E., Alonso, M. P., Dhabi, G., Thomson-Carter, F., Usera, M. A., Bartolome, R., Prats, G., Blanco, J. (2004). Phage Types and Genotypes of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Isolates from Humans and Animals in Spain: Identification and Characterization of Two Predominating Phage Types (PT2 and PT8). J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 4007-4015 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cartelle, M., del Mar Tomas, M., Pertega, S., Beceiro, A., Dominguez, M. A., Velasco, D., Molina, F., Villanueva, R., Bou, G. (2004). Risk Factors for Colonization and Infection in a Hospital Outbreak Caused by a Strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae with Reduced Susceptibility to Expanded-Spectrum Cephalosporins. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 4242-4249 [Abstract] [Full Text]