Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1982 Dec;16(6):1086–1090. doi: 10.1128/jcm.16.6.1086-1090.1982

Detection of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in water by filter hybridization with three enterotoxin gene probes.

P Echeverria, J Seriwatana, O Chityothin, W Chaicumpa, C Tirapat
PMCID: PMC272544  PMID: 6761360

Abstract

The DNA hybridization assay for genes encoding for Escherichia coli enterotoxins was used to examine water specimens in Thailand. In a reconstruction experiment, the DNA hybridization assay was 10(4) times more sensitive than testing random E. coli in the Y-1 adrenal and suckling mouse assays in identifying enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) in water. Drinking and bathing water collected from 2 of 10 different homes of individuals with ETEC-associated diarrhea and 6% (5 of 78) and 11% (11 of 78) of drinking and bathing water samples collected from homes of individuals with diarrhea without ETEC infections, as well as 6% (5 of 77) and 8% (6 of 77) of drinking and bathing water collected from homes in which no inhabitants had diarrhea, were homologous with the DNA probes. Ten E. coli from each of the 31 water specimens which contained bacteria which were homologous with the DNA probes were tested in the Y-1 adrenal and suckling mouse assay. In only 2 of these 31 specimens could ETEC be identified with the standard assays. The DNA hybridization assay is a much more sensitive means of detecting organisms carrying genes coding for enterotoxin production than testing 10 individual colonies in the Y-1 adrenal and suckling mouse assays. This novel application of recombinant DNA technology provides a sensitive method of detecting organisms carrying genes coding for enterotoxin, and this method will be useful in defining the epidemiology of ETEC.

Full text

PDF
1086

Images in this article

1088Image
on p.1088

Selected References

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

  1. Black R. E., Merson M. H., Rahman A. S., Yunus M., Alim A. R., Huq I., Yolken R. H., Curlin G. T. A two-year study of bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents associated with diarrhea in rural Bangladesh. J Infect Dis. 1980 Nov;142(5):660–664. doi: 10.1093/infdis/142.5.660. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dallas W. S., Gill D. M., Falkow S. Cistrons encoding Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin. J Bacteriol. 1979 Sep;139(3):850–858. doi: 10.1128/jb.139.3.850-858.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dean A. G., Ching Y. C., Williams R. G., Harden L. B. Test for Escherichia coli enterotoxin using infant mice: application in a study of diarrhea in children in Honolulu. J Infect Dis. 1972 Apr;125(4):407–411. doi: 10.1093/infdis/125.4.407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. DuPont H. L., Formal S. B., Hornick R. B., Snyder M. J., Libonati J. P., Sheahan D. G., LaBrec E. H., Kalas J. P. Pathogenesis of Escherichia coli diarrhea. N Engl J Med. 1971 Jul 1;285(1):1–9. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197107012850101. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Evans D. G., Evans D. J., Jr, Tjoa W. S., DuPont H. L. Detection and characterization of colonization factor of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from adults with diarrhea. Infect Immun. 1978 Feb;19(2):727–736. doi: 10.1128/iai.19.2.727-736.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Guerrant R. L., Brunton L. L., Schnaitman T. C., Rebhun L. I., Gilman A. G. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate and alteration of Chinese hamster ovary cell morphology: a rapid, sensitive in vitro assay for the enterotoxins of Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 1974 Aug;10(2):320–327. doi: 10.1128/iai.10.2.320-327.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Guerrant R. L., Moore R. A., Kirschenfeld P. M., Sande M. A. Role of toxigenic and invasive bacteria in acute diarrhea of childhood. N Engl J Med. 1975 Sep 18;293(12):567–572. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197509182931201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kaper J. B., Moseley S. L., Falkow S. Molecular characterization of environmental and nontoxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae. Infect Immun. 1981 May;32(2):661–667. doi: 10.1128/iai.32.2.661-667.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lathe R., Hirth P., DeWilde M., Harford N., Lecocq J. P. Cell-free synthesis of enterotoxin of E. coli from a cloned gene. Nature. 1980 Apr 3;284(5755):473–474. doi: 10.1038/284473a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Moseley S. L., Echeverria P., Seriwatana J., Tirapat C., Chaicumpa W., Sakuldaipeara T., Falkow S. Identification of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by colony hybridization using three enterotoxin gene probes. J Infect Dis. 1982 Jun;145(6):863–869. doi: 10.1093/infdis/145.6.863. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Moseley S. L., Falkow S. Nucleotide sequence homology between the heat-labile enterotoxin gene of Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae deoxyribonucleic acid. J Bacteriol. 1980 Oct;144(1):444–446. doi: 10.1128/jb.144.1.444-446.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Moseley S. L., Huq I., Alim A. R., So M., Samadpour-Motalebi M., Falkow S. Detection of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by DNA colony hybridization. J Infect Dis. 1980 Dec;142(6):892–898. doi: 10.1093/infdis/142.6.892. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sack D. A., Sack R. B. Test for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli using Y-1 adrenal cells in miniculture. Infect Immun. 1975 Feb;11(2):334–336. doi: 10.1128/iai.11.2.334-336.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sack R. B. Human diarrheal disease caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1975;29:333–353. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.29.100175.002001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smith H. W., Linggood M. A. The transmissible nature of enterotoxin production in a human enteropathogenic strain of Escherichia coli. J Med Microbiol. 1971 Aug;4(3):301–305. doi: 10.1099/00222615-4-3-301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. So M., McCarthy B. J. Nucleotide sequence of the bacterial transposon Tn1681 encoding a heat-stable (ST) toxin and its identification in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Jul;77(7):4011–4015. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.7.4011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Stintzing G., Bäck E., Tufvesson B., Johnsson T., Wadström T., Habte D. Seasonal fluctuations in the occurrence of enterotoxigenic bacteria and rotavirus in paediatric diarrhoea in Addis Ababa. Bull World Health Organ. 1981;59(1):67–73. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES