This Article 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 Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gross, R J Articles by Rowe, B Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gross, R J Articles by Rowe, B

Isolation of bacteriophages specific for the K1 polysaccharide antigen of Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT

Five bacteriophage stocks were prepared after enrichment of a sewage sample using Escherichia coli 02:K1:H4 (strain U9/41). The bacteriophages were tested for their ability to lyse 224 strains of E. coli that had been tested for the presence of the K1 antigen by means of an antiserum-agar diffusion technique, using a meningococcus group B antiserum known to detect the E. coli K1 antigen. The standard test strains for E. coli K antigens 2 to 99 were used as control strains. Of the 101 strains found to possess the K1 antigen using the antiserum-agar technique, 93 were lysed by at least one of the bacteriophages, whereas 8 of the 123 strains apparently lacking K1 were lysed by one or more of the bacteriophages. None of the standard test strains for K antigens 2 to 99 was lysed by any of the bacteriophages. The eight strains thought to lack K1 but that were lysed by bacteriophage were re-examined by immunoelectrophoresis, using meningococcus group B antiserum; five of the eight strains gave a precipitin line corresponding to K1. The use of K1-specific bacteriophages offers an inexpensive and easy method for the identification of the K1 antigen.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Schwarzer, D., Stummeyer, K., Gerardy-Schahn, R., Muhlenhoff, M. (2007). Characterization of a Novel Intramolecular Chaperone Domain Conserved in Endosialidases and Other Bacteriophage Tail Spike and Fiber Proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 2821-2831 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Scholl, D., Merril, C. (2005). The Genome of Bacteriophage K1F, a T7-Like Phage That Has Acquired the Ability To Replicate on K1 Strains of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 187: 8499-8503 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Scholl, D., Adhya, S., Merril, C. (2005). Escherichia coli K1's Capsule Is a Barrier to Bacteriophage T7. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 4872-4874 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mushtaq, N., Redpath, M. B., Luzio, J. P., Taylor, P. W. (2005). Treatment of experimental Escherichia coli infection with recombinant bacteriophage-derived capsule depolymerase. J Antimicrob Chemother 56: 160-165 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mushtaq, N., Redpath, M. B., Luzio, J. P., Taylor, P. W. (2004). Prevention and Cure of Systemic Escherichia coli K1 Infection by Modification of the Bacterial Phenotype. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 48: 1503-1508 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Muhlenhoff, M., Stummeyer, K., Grove, M., Sauerborn, M., Gerardy-Schahn, R. (2003). Proteolytic Processing and Oligomerization of Bacteriophage-derived Endosialidases. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 12634-12644 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Obata-Yasuoka, M., Ba-Thein, W., Tsukamoto, T., Yoshikawa, H., Hayashi, H. (2002). Vaginal Escherichia coli share common virulence factor profiles, serotypes and phylogeny with other extraintestinal E. coli. Microbiology 148: 2745-2752 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Scholl, D., Rogers, S., Adhya, S., Merril, C. R. (2001). Bacteriophage K1-5 Encodes Two Different Tail Fiber Proteins, Allowing It To Infect and Replicate on both K1 and K5 Strains of Escherichia coli. J. Virol. 75: 2509-2515 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Clarke, B. R., Esumeh, F., Roberts, I. S. (2000). Cloning, Expression, and Purification of the K5 Capsular Polysaccharide Lyase (KflA) from Coliphage K5A: Evidence for Two Distinct K5 Lyase Enzymes. J. Bacteriol. 182: 3761-3766 [Abstract] [Full Text]