Skip to main content
PMC home page
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica logoLink to Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
. 1985 Jun 1;26(2):145–152. doi: 10.1186/BF03546546

Colicin Production in Relation to Pathogenicity Factors in Strains of Escherichia Coli Isolated from the Intestinal Tract of Piglets

Colicin produksjon relatert til enteropatogenitets faktorer hos stammer av Escherichia coli isolert fra tarmkanaler hos spedgris

Berit K Djønne 1,✉
PMCID: PMC8202707  PMID: 3904366

Abstract

Three hundred and fifteen E. coli strains isolated from piglets dead due to neonatal E. coli diarrhea or traumatic lesions, were examined for presence of enterotoxin production, K-antigens 88 and 99, antibiotic resistance and colicin-production.

Almost 100 % of the E. coli strains positive on enterotoxin production produced colicin, while approx. 17 % of the non-enterotoxigenic strains did so.

Ninety-nine % of the E. coli strains harbouring K-antigens were found to produce colicin, while approx. 23 % of the strains without detectable K-antigens did so.

In strains where neither K-antigens nor enterotoxin production was found, resistance against tetracycline, neomycin and ampicillin, and sensitivity against streptomycin, was more commonly found among colicin-producing strains, than among strains without colicin production.

Keywords: enteropathogenicity factors, K-antigens, enterotoxin production, virulens factors

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (861.6 KB).

References

  1. Bull, A. T. & P. M. Meadow: Companion to microbiology: Selected topics for further studies. Longman, London 1978, VII, p. 109–126.
  2. Craven J. A., Barnum D. A. Ecology of intestinal Escherichia coli in pigs. Canad. J. comp. Med. 1971;35:324–331. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. De Alwis M. C. L., Thomlinson J. R. The incidence and distribution of colicinogenic and colicin-sensitive Escherichia coli in the gastro-intestinal tract of the pig. J. gen. Microbiol. 1973;74:45–52. doi: 10.1099/00221287-74-1-45. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dean A. G., Ching Yi-Chuan, 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. inf. Dis. 1972;125:407–411. doi: 10.1093/infdis/125.4.407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Franklin A., Søderlind O., Møllby R. Plasmids coding for enterotoxins, K88 antigen and colicins in porcine Escherichia coli strains of O-group 149. Med. Microbiol. Immunol. 1981;170:63–72. doi: 10.1007/BF02122670. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fredericq, P.: A note on the classification of colicins. Institut de Microbiologie et Hygiène de l’Universitè, Liège, Belgien. Gustav Fisher Verlag, Stuttgart 1964.
  7. Guinèe P. A. M., Veldkamp J., Jansen W. H. Improved Minca medium for the detection of K99 antigen in calf enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli. Infect. Immun. 1977;15:676–678. doi: 10.1128/IAI.15.2.676-678.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gyles C. L., Palchaudhuri S., Maas W. K. Naturally occurring plasmid carrying genes for enterotoxin production and drug resistance. Science. 1977;198:198–199. doi: 10.1126/science.333581. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Larsen J. L. Differences between enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains isolated from neonatal E. coli diarrhoea (N.C.D.) and post weaning diarrhoea (P.W.D.) in pigs. Nord. Vet.-Med. 1976;28:417–429. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Liven E. Relationship between production of enterotoxin and various drug resistance patterns in strains of Escherichia coli isolated from piglets suffering from colienterotoxemia. Acta vet. scand. 1979;20:396–403. doi: 10.1186/BF03546601. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Olsvik Ø., Hushovd O. T., Bredal B. P., Bergan T., Mathiesen M. Production of enterotoxin by Escherichia coli at four, twenty-two and thirty-seven degrees centigrade. Eur. J. clin. Microbiol. 1982;1:12–16. doi: 10.1007/BF02014134. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Smith H. W. A search for transmissible pathogenic characters in invasive strains of Escherichia coll: the discovery of a plasmidcontrolled toxin and a plasmidecontrolled lethal character closely associated, or identical, with colicine V. J. gen. Microbiol. 1974;83:95–111. doi: 10.1099/00221287-83-1-95. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Smith H. W., Huggins M. B. Further observations on the association of the colicine V plasmid of Escherichia coli with pathogenicity and with survival in the alimentary tract. J. gen. Microbiol. 1976;92:335–350. doi: 10.1099/00221287-92-2-335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Smith H. W., Linggood M. A. Observations on the pathogenic properties of the K88, Hly and Ent plasmids of Escherichia coli with particular reference to porcine diarrhoea. J. med. Microbiol. 1971;4:467–485. doi: 10.1099/00222615-4-4-467. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Swiderski M., Lachowicz T. H. Occurrence and transfer of antibiotic resistance, colicinogeny and haemolysin production in Escherichia coli strains isolated from cases of colibacillosis. Acta microbiol. polonica. 1974;6:155–162. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Søderlind O. Studies on Escherichia coli in pigs II. Serological investigations. Zbl. Vet. Med. B. 1971;18:569–590. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0450.1971.tb01661.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tschäpe H., Rische H. Die Virulenz-Plasmide der Enterobacteriaceae. (The virulens-plasmids of enterobacteriaceae). Z. Alg. Mikrobiol. 1974;14:337–350. doi: 10.1002/jobm.3630140410. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Vasenius H. The colicinogenic properties of porcine Escherichia coli strains. Acta vet. scand. 1967;8:195–200. doi: 10.1186/BF03547825. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ørskov I., Ørskou F. Episom-carried surface antigen K88 of Escherichia coli. J. Bacterio!. 1966;91:69–75. doi: 10.1128/JB.91.1.69-75.1966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica are provided here courtesy of BMC

RESOURCES