A study of enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli, serogroup 0126, by bacterial restriction endonuclease DNA analysis (BRENDA)

Abstract

SUMMARYSixteen isolates ofEscherichia coliwere subjected to bacterial restriction endonuclease DNA analysis (BRENDA). Nine of these isolates were from an outbreak of human diarrhoea and produced stable toxin, the remaining seven were non-toxigenic strains from animal and human sources. The isolates from the outbreak produced indistinguishable DNA electrophoretic patterns in spite of their assignment to seven different H serotypes. Their BRENDA patterns were markedly different from the other isolates examined. These results support the epidemiological evidence that a single-strain outbreak had occurred, and they cast doubt on the value of H typing for this particular investigation.