Skip to main content
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1987 Jul 10;15(13):5275–5287. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.13.5275

Enzyme-linked synthetic oligonucleotide probes: non-radioactive detection of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in faecal specimens.

P Li, P P Medon, D C Skingle, J A Lanser, R H Symons
PMCID: PMC305961  PMID: 3299267

Abstract

Synthetic oligonucleotides, complementary to unique sequences in the heat stable enterotoxin gene of Escherichia coli specific for humans, were prepared with a 30-atom spacer arm and a 3' terminal sulfhydryl group which was coupled to bromoacetyl-derivatized alkaline phosphatase. The resulting direct enzyme-linked oligonucleotide probes, containing one enzyme molecule per oligonucleotide, successfully diagnosed enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in clinical specimens by using a modified colony hybridization method and a colorimetric assay. The procedure is rapid, simple and reliable with a sensitivity equivalent to that using 5'-terminally labelled [32p]-oligonucleotide probes. The results indicate that the enzyme-labelled oligonucleotide probes should be applicable to the routine diagnosis of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and possess the potential for the detection of other microbial pathogens.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

Selected References

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

  1. Betley M. J., Miller V. L., Mekalanos J. J. Genetics of bacterial enterotoxins. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1986;40:577–605. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.40.100186.003045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chollet A., Kawashima E. H. Biotin-labeled synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides: chemical synthesis and uses as hybridization probes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Mar 11;13(5):1529–1541. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.5.1529. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chu B. C., Orgel L. E. Detection of specific DNA sequences with short biotin-labeled probes. DNA. 1985 Aug;4(4):327–331. doi: 10.1089/dna.1985.4.327. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Collins M. L., Hunsaker W. R. Improved hybridization assays employing tailed oligonucleotide probes: a direct comparison with 5'-end-labeled oligonucleotide probes and nick-translated plasmid probes. Anal Biochem. 1985 Dec;151(2):211–224. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(85)90168-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. 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]
  6. Draper D. E. Attachment of reporter groups to specific, selected cytidine residues in RNA using a bisulfite-catalyzed transamination reaction. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jan 25;12(2):989–1002. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.2.989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Echeverria P., Taylor D. N., Seriwatana J., Chatkaeomorakot A., Khungvalert V., Sakuldaipeara T., Smith R. D. A comparative study of enterotoxin gene probes and tests for toxin production to detect enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. J Infect Dis. 1986 Feb;153(2):255–260. doi: 10.1093/infdis/153.2.255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. England T. E., Bruce A. G., Uhlenbeck O. C. Specific labeling of 3' termini of RNA with T4 RNA ligase. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):65–74. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65011-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Forster A. C., McInnes J. L., Skingle D. C., Symons R. H. Non-radioactive hybridization probes prepared by the chemical labelling of DNA and RNA with a novel reagent, photobiotin. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Feb 11;13(3):745–761. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.3.745. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Haas M. J., Fleming D. J. Use of biotinylated DNA probes in colony hybridization. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 May 12;14(9):3976–3976. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.9.3976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hill W. E., Payne W. L., Zon G., Moseley S. L. Synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes for detecting heat-stable enterotoxin-producing Escherichia coli by DNA colony hybridization. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Nov;50(5):1187–1191. doi: 10.1128/aem.50.5.1187-1191.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hill W. E., Wentz B. A., Payne W. L., Jagow J. A., Zon G. DNA colony hybridization method using synthetic oligonucleotides to detect enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli: collaborative study. J Assoc Off Anal Chem. 1986 May-Jun;69(3):531–536. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Holmes R. K., Twiddy E. M., Pickett C. L. Purification and characterization of type II heat-labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 1986 Sep;53(3):464–473. doi: 10.1128/iai.53.3.464-473.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kempe T., Sundquist W. I., Chow F., Hu S. L. Chemical and enzymatic biotin-labeling of oligodeoxyribonucleotides. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Jan 11;13(1):45–57. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.1.45. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Langer P. R., Waldrop A. A., Ward D. C. Enzymatic synthesis of biotin-labeled polynucleotides: novel nucleic acid affinity probes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Nov;78(11):6633–6637. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.11.6633. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Leary J. J., Brigati D. J., Ward D. C. Rapid and sensitive colorimetric method for visualizing biotin-labeled DNA probes hybridized to DNA or RNA immobilized on nitrocellulose: Bio-blots. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jul;80(13):4045–4049. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.13.4045. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lee C. H., Moseley S. L., Moon H. W., Whipp S. C., Gyles C. L., So M. Characterization of the gene encoding heat-stable toxin II and preliminary molecular epidemiological studies of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin II producers. Infect Immun. 1983 Oct;42(1):264–268. doi: 10.1128/iai.42.1.264-268.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Leong J., Vinal A. C., Dallas W. S. Nucleotide sequence comparison between heat-labile toxin B-subunit cistrons from Escherichia coli of human and porcine origin. Infect Immun. 1985 Apr;48(1):73–77. doi: 10.1128/iai.48.1.73-77.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Meinkoth J., Wahl G. Hybridization of nucleic acids immobilized on solid supports. Anal Biochem. 1984 May 1;138(2):267–284. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(84)90808-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Moseley S. L., Hardy J. W., Hug M. I., Echeverria P., Falkow S. Isolation and nucleotide sequence determination of a gene encoding a heat-stable enterotoxin of Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 1983 Mar;39(3):1167–1174. doi: 10.1128/iai.39.3.1167-1174.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. 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]
  22. Murasugi A., Wallace R. B. Biotin-labeled oligonucleotides: enzymatic synthesis and use as hybridization probes. DNA. 1984 Jun;3(3):269–277. doi: 10.1089/dna.1.1984.3.269. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Schulman L. H., Pelka H., Reines S. A. Attachment of protein affinity-labeling reagents of variable length and amino acid specificity to E. coli tRNAfMet. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Mar 11;9(5):1203–1217. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.5.1203. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sethabutr O., Hanchalay S., Echeverria P., Taylor D. N., Leksomboon U. A non-radioactive DNA probe to identify Shigella and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli in stools of children with diarrhoea. Lancet. 1985 Nov 16;2(8464):1095–1097. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)90687-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. 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]
  26. Wilchek M., Givol D. Haloacetyl derivatives. Methods Enzymol. 1977;46:153–157. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(77)46015-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Yamamoto T., Tamura T., Yokota T. Primary structure of heat-labile enterotoxin produced by Escherichia coli pathogenic for humans. J Biol Chem. 1984 Apr 25;259(8):5037–5044. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES