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. 1983 Oct;42(1):57–63. doi: 10.1128/iai.42.1.57-63.1983

Cloned hemolysin genes from Escherichia coli that cause urinary tract infection determine different levels of toxicity in mice.

J Hacker, C Hughes, H Hof, W Goebel
PMCID: PMC264523  PMID: 6352503

Abstract

After intraperitoneal injection of mice with Escherichia coli strains isolated from patients with urinary tract infections, the mortality due to hemolytic (Hly+) and nonhemolytic (Hly-) isolates was 77 and 40%, respectively. Deletion of the chromosomal hemolysin (hly) determinant in an E. coli O6:K15:H31 urinary tract infection strain led to a significant reduction in toxicity for mice, and its reintroduction on a recombinant plasmid partially restored the original toxicity. Although introduction of the cloned plasmid pHly152-encoded hly determinant into the Hly- E. coli O6 mutant strain increased toxicity by only a marginal degree, transformation with the cloned chromosomal hly determinants from two E. coli strains of serotypes O18ac:K5:H- and O75:K95:H? resulted in markedly greater toxicity, even exceeding that of the original Hly+ E. coli O6 wild-type strain.

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Selected References

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