Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Methods available for the sub-typing of Escherichia coli O157

  • Published:
World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The epidemiological investigation of Escherichia coli O157 is complicated by the lack of heterogeneity between strains responsible for the majority of cases of infection. As a consequence it is difficult to reliably cluster together an outbreak strain and differentiate it from other sporadically occurring isolates. The methods available for the sub-typing of E. coli O157 vary in their speed, technical complexity, cost and ability to discriminate reliably between strains, with many of the recently developed methods targeting the genome to provide differentiation. No single typing method is individually superior, and ideally a combination of techniques should be employed depending on the level of discrimination required and time or resources available. The aim of this review is to consider the relative merits of the available typing methodologies with particular emphasis on those which may find application in a diagnostic laboratory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anon 1999 Vero cytotoxin producing Escherichia coli O157: phage types reported in 1998. CDR Weekly 9, 291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arbeit, R.D. 1995 Laboratory procedures for the epidemiologic analysis of microorganisms. In Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 6th edn, eds. Murray, P.R., Baron, E.J., Pfaller, M.A., Tenover, F.C. & Yolken, R.H., Washington, DC: ASM Press. ISBN 1-55581-086-1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, T.J., Lior, H., Green, J.H., Khakhria, R., Wells, J.G., Bell, B.P., Greene, K.D., Lewis, J. & Griffin, P.M. 1994 Laboratory investigation of a multistate food-borne outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and phage typing. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 32, 3013-3017.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bender, J.B., Craig, M.S., Hedberg, C.W., Besser, J.M., Boxrud, D.J., MacDonald, K.L. & Osterholm, M.T. 1997 Surveillance for Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections in Minnesota by molecular subtyping. The New England Journal of Medicine 337, 388-394.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bezanson, G., Khakharia, R. & Lacroix, R. 1982 Involvement of plasmids in determining bacteriophage sensitivity in Salmonella typhimurium: genetic and physical analysis of phagovar 204. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 28, 993-1001.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, M., Denning, D.W. & Law, D. 1996 Rapid genotyping of Escherichia coli O157 isolates by random amplification of polymorphic DNA. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 15, 297-302.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Böhm, H. & Karch, H. 1992 DNA fingerprinting of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 30, 2169-2172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caetano-Anollés, G., Bassam, B.J. & Gressho., P.M. 1992 Primer-template interactions during DNA amplification fingerprinting with single arbitrary oligonucleotides. Molecular and General Genetics 235, 157-165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S., Yee, A., Weller, J., McFadden, K., Read, S., Johnson, R., Gyle, C. & De Grandis, S. 1997 Molecular typing of verotoxigenic Escherichia coli using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. In VTEC '97: 3rd International Symposium and Workshop on Shiga Toxin (Verocytotoxin)-Producing Escherichia coli Infections held at Baltimore, Maryland. Abstr. V169/VI, p. 105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chu, G., Vollrath, D. & Davis, R.W. 1986 Separation of large DNA molecules by contour-clamped homogeneous electric fields. Science 234, 1582-1585.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coutinho, H.L.C., Handley, B.A., Kay, H.E., Stevenson, L. & Beringer, J.E. 1993 The effect of colony age on PCR fingerprinting. Letters in Applied Microbiology 17, 282-284.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frost, J.A., Smith, H.R., Willshaw, G.A., Scotland, S.M., Gross, R.J. & Rowe, B. 1989 Phage-typing of verocytotoxin (VT) producing Escherichia coli O157 isolated in the United Kingdom. Epidemiology and Infection 103, 73-81.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gautom, R.K. 1997 Rapid pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocol for typing of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other gram-negative organisms in 1 day. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 35, 2977-2980.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goering, R.V. 1993 Molecular epidemiology of nosocomial infection: analysis of chromosomal restriction fragment patterns by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 14, 595-600.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gouveia, S., Proctor, M.E., Lee, M.-S., Luchansky, J.B. & Kaspar, C.W. 1998 Genomic comparisons and shiga toxin production among Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates from a day care center outbreak and sporadic cases in southeastern Wisconsin. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 36, 727-733.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grif, K., Karch, H., Schneider, C., Daschner, F.D., Beutin, L., Cheasty, T., Smith, H., Rowe, B., Dierich, M.P. & Allerberger, F. 1998 Comparative study of five different techniques for epidemiological typing of Escherichia coli O157. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease 32, 165-176.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, L.M., Goldoft, M., Kobayashi, J., Lewis, J.H., Alfi, D., Perdichizzi, A.M., Tarr, P.I., Ongerth, J.E., Moseley, S.L. & Samadpour, M. 1995 Molecular epidemiology of a fast-food restaurant-associated outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Washington state. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 33, 2155-2158.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grimont, F. & Grimont, P.A.D. 1986 Ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene restriction patterns as potential taxonomic tools. Annals of Microbiology (Institute Pasteur) 137, 165-175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harsono, K.D., Kaspar, C.W. & Luchansky, J.B. 1993 Comparison and genomic sizing of Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 59, 3141-3144.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hilton, A.C., Banks, J.G. & Penn, C.W. 1997 Optimisation of RAPD for fingerprinting Salmonella. Letters in Applied Microbiology 24, 243-248.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, K.L. & Hilton, A.C. 2000a Simultaneous molecular subtyping and shiga toxin gene detection in Escherichia coli using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Letters in Applied Microbiology 30, 122-125.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, K.L. & Hilton, A.C. 2001b Restriction enzyme analysis of RAPD-PCR amplicons derived from Escherichia coli O157 isolates. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 50, 90-95.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J.M., Weagant, S.D., Jinneman, K.C. & Bryant, J.L. 1995 Use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for epidemiological study of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during a food-borne outbreak. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 61, 2806-2808.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karch, H., Rüssmann, H., Schmidt, H., Schwarzkopf, A. & Heesemann, J. 1995 Long-term shedding and clonal turnover of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 in diarrheal diseases. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 33, 1602-1605.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karch, H., Schmidt, H. & Brunder, W. 1998 Plasmid-encoded determinants of Escherichia coli O157:H7. In Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Other Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Strains, eds. Kaper, J.B. & O'Brien, A.D., Washington, DC: ASM Press. ISBN 1-55581-129-9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khakhria, R., Duck, D. & Lior, H. 1990 Extended phage-typing scheme for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Epidemiology and Infection 105, 511-520.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khandka, D.E., Tuna, M., Tal, M., Nejidat, A. & Golan-Goldhirsh, A. 1997 Variability in the pattern of random amplified polymorphic DNA. Electrophoresis 18, 2852-2856.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lyoda, S., Wada, A., Weller, J., Flood, S.J.A., Schreiber, E. & Tucker, B. 1999 Evaluation of AFLP, a high resolution DNA fingerprinting method, as a tool for molecular subtyping of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates. Microbiology and Immunology 43, 803-806.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madico, G., Akopyants, N.S. & Berg, D.E. 1995 Arbitrarily primed PCR DNA fingerprinting of Escherichia coli strains by using templates from boiled cultures. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 33, 1534-1536.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, I.E., Tyler, S.D., Tyler, K.D., Khakhria, R. & Johnson, W.M. 1996 Evaluation of ribotyping as epidemiologic tool for typing Escherichia coli serogroup O157 isolates. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 34, 720-723.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McAdoo, K.K. & Carson, C.A. 1997 Evaluation of DNA ``fingerprinting'' for predicting the potential of E. coli O157:H7 isolates to cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 412, 193-200.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meng, J., Zhao, S., Zhao, T. & Doyle, M.P. 1995 Molecular characterisation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and plasmid DNA analysis. Journal of Medical Microbiology 42, 258-263.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ostro., S.M., Tarr, P.I., Neill, M.A., Lewis, J.H., Hargrett-Bean, N. & Kobayashi, J.M. 1989 Toxin genotypes and plasmid profiles as determinants of systemic sequelae in Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 160, 994-998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penner, G.A., Bush, A., Wise, R., Kim, W., Domier, L., Kasha, K., Laroche, A., Scoles, G., Molnar, S.J. & Fedak, G. 1993 Reproducibility of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis among laboratories. PCR Methods and Applications 2, 341-345.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Power, E.G.M. 1996 RAPD typing in microbiology-a technical review. Journal of Hospital Infection 34, 247-265.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ratnam, S., March, S.B., Ahmed, R., Bezanson, G.S. & Kasatiya, S. 1988 Characterisation of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 26, 2006-2012.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, D.H., McMenamin, K.M., Pritchett, L.C., Hancock, D.D. & Besser, T.E. 1999 Genetic subtyping of Escherichia coli O157 isolates from 41 pacific northwest USA cattle farms. Epidemiology and Infection 122, 479-484.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samadpour, M., Grimm, L.M., Desai, B., Alfi, D., Ongerth, J.E. & Tarr, P.I. 1993 Molecular epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains by bacteriophage λ restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis: application to a multistate foodborne outbreak and a day-care center cluster. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 31, 3179-3183.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E.F. & Maniatis, T. 1989 Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, pp. 6.50-6.52. New York: Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory. ISBN 0-87969-309-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, H., Geltz, C., Tarr, P.I., Frosch, M. & Karch, H. 1999 Non-O157 pathogenic shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli: phenotypic and genetic profiling of virulence traits and evidence for clonality. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 179, 115-123.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, J. 1997 New approaches for detecting and curtailing foodborne microbial infections. JAMA 277, 1337-1340.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tarkka, E., Ohman, H. & Siitonen, A. 1994 Ribotyping as an epidemiologic tool for Escherichia coli. Epidemiology and Infection 112, 263-274.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tenover, F.C., Arbeit, R.D., Goering, R.V., Mickelsen, P.A., Murray, B.E., Persing, D.H. & Swaminathan, B. 1995 Interpreting chromosomal DNA restriction patterns produced by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis: criteria for bacterial strain typing. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 33, 2233-2239.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, A., Smith, H.R. & Rowe, B. 1993 Use of digoxygenin-labelled oligonucleotide DNA probes for VT2 and VT2 human variant genes to di.erentiate vero cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli strains of serogroup O157. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 31, 1700-1703.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C.J., Daly, C., Barrett, T.J., Getchell, J.P., Gilchrist, M.J.R. & Loeffelholz, M.J. 1998 Insertion element IS3-based PCR method for subtyping Escherichia coli O157:H7. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 36, 1180-1184.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Threlfall, E.J., Chart, H., Ward, L.R., de Sa, J.D.H. & Rowe, B. 1993 Interrelationships between strains of Salmonella enteritidis belonging to phage types 4, 7, 7a, 8, 13, 13a, 23, 24 and 30. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 75, 43-48.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, K.D., Wang, G., Tyler, S.D. & Johnson, W.M. 1997 Factors a.ecting reliability and reproducibility of amplification-based DNA fingerprinting of representative bacterial pathogens. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 35, 339-346.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Versalovic, J., Koeuth, T. & Lupski, J.R. 1991 Distribution of repetitive DNA sequences in eubacteria and application to fingerprinting of bacterial genomes. Nucleic Acids Research 19, 6823-6831.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, G., Whittam, T.S., Berg, C.M. & Berg, D.E. 1993 RAPD (arbitrary primer) PCR is more sensitive than multilocus enzyme electrophoresis for distinguishing related bacterial strains. Nucleic Acids Research 21, 5930-5933.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Welsh, J. & McClelland, M. 1990 Fingerprinting genomes using PCR with arbitrary primers. Nucleic Acids Research 18, 7213-7218.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whittam, T.S., Wachsmuth, I.K. & Wilson, R.A. 1988 Genetic evidence of clonal descent of Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 157, 11240-1133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J.G.K., Kubelik, A.R., Livak, K.J., Rafalski, J.A. & Tingey S.V. 1990 DNA polymorphisms amplified by arbitrary primers are useful as genetic markers. Nucleic Acids Research 18, 6531-6535.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Willshaw, G.A., Smith, H.R., Cheasty, T., Wall, P.G. & Rowe, B. 1997 Vero cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 outbreaks in England and Wales, 1995: phenotypic methods and genotypic subtyping. Emerging Infectious Diseases 3(4), 561-565.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, S., Mitchell, S.E., Meng, J., Kresovich, S., Doyle, M.P., Dean, R. & Weller, J.W. 1997 Genomic typing of E. coli O157:H7 by semi-automated fluorescent AFLP analysis. In VTEC '97: 3rd International Symposium and Workshop on Shiga Toxin (Verocytotoxin)-Producing Escherichia coli Infections held at Baltimore, Maryland. Abstr. V5/VI, p. 94.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Katie L. Hopkins

  2. Life & Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK

    Anthony C. Hilton

Authors
  1. Katie L. Hopkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anthony C. Hilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hopkins, K.L., Hilton, A.C. Methods available for the sub-typing of Escherichia coli O157. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 16, 741–748 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008941225987

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008941225987

Search

Navigation