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. 1984 Nov;46(2):308–313. doi: 10.1128/iai.46.2.308-313.1984

Monoclonal antibody detection of IncF group plasmid-encoded TraT protein in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli.

D Bitter-Suermann, H Peters, M Jürs, R Nehrbass, M Montenegro, K N Timmis
PMCID: PMC261531  PMID: 6389341

Abstract

The TraT protein specified by IncF group plasmids mediates surface exclusion and bacterial resistance to the lethal activities of serum. In this study, an anti-TraT protein monoclonal antibody was generated which failed to react with TraT+ bacteria but which efficiently detected solubilized TraT protein in Western blots and in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Use of this antibody to screen clinical and nonclinical isolates of Escherichia coli for the production of TraT protein revealed its presence in a modest proportion (38%) of normal fecal strains, a significantly higher proportion of clinical strains (51 to 73%), and an even higher proportion (78 to 88%) of clinical strains concomitantly producing the K1 capsule, an important virulence factor of E. coli.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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