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. 1993 May;61(5):1619–1629. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.5.1619-1629.1993

Clonal relationships among Escherichia coli strains that cause hemorrhagic colitis and infantile diarrhea.

T S Whittam 1, M L Wolfe 1, I K Wachsmuth 1, F Orskov 1, I Orskov 1, R A Wilson 1
PMCID: PMC280743  PMID: 7682992

Abstract

The genetic relationships among 1,300 isolates of Escherichia coli representing 16 serotypes associated with enteric disease, including O157:H7 strains recovered from patients with hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome and O26:H11, O55:H6, O55:H7, O111:H2, and O128:H2 strains, many of which were isolated originally from infants with diarrhea, were estimated from allelic variation among 20 enzyme-encoding genes detected by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. Multiple electrophoretic types were observed among isolates of each serotype, with isolates of the same O serogroup differing on average at 28% of the enzyme loci. Comparisons of the multilocus enzyme profiles revealed that 72% of the isolates belong to 15 major electrophoretic types, each of which corresponds to a bacterial clone with a wide geographic distribution. Genetically, the O157:H7 clone is most closely related to a clone of O55:H7 strains that has long been associated with worldwide outbreaks of infantile diarrhea. We propose that the new pathogen emerged when an O55:H7-like progenitor, already possessing a mechanism for adherence to intestinal cells, acquired secondary virulence factors (Shiga-like cytotoxins and plasmid-encoded adhesins) via horizontal transfer and recombination.

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Selected References

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