Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of the Anti-Terminator Q933 Gene as a Marker for Escherichia coli O157:H7 with High Shiga Toxin Production

  • Published:
Current Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The anti-terminator Q933 gene of the bacteriophage 933W was evaluated as a marker for Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains with high Shiga toxin production. In total, 262 environmental strains of E. coli O157:H7 isolated from feces of beef cattle and the digestive tract of houseflies were screened for the Q933 and Q21 (anti-terminator Q21 of bacteriophage 21) genes by polymerase chain reaction. Nine (3.4%) isolates tested positive for Q933 alone, 161 (61.5%) were positive for the Q21 gene alone, and 92 (35.1%) isolates carried both Q alleles. Results from the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay show that the isolates with Q933 alone produced significantly more Shiga toxin than the remaining isolates. The difference was even greater after the induction of the toxin production by a short exposure of cells to ultraviolet light. These data suggest that Q933 is a promising indicator for environmental E. coli O157:H7 with high production of Shiga toxins and, therefore, for potentially clinically relevant strains.

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

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  1. Alam MJ, Zurek L (2004) Association of Escherichia coli O157:H7 with houseflies on a cattle farm. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:758–7580

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Alam MJ, Zurek L (2006) Assessment of seasonal prevalence and shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the feces of beef cattle. J Food Prot (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Altschul SF, Gish W, Miller W, Myers EW, Lipman DJ (1990) Basic local alignment search tool. J Mol Biol 215:403–410

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bach SJ, McAllister TA, Veira DM, Gannon VPJ, Holley RA (2002) Transmission and control of Escherichia coli O157:H7: a review. Can J Anim Sci 82 475–490

    Google Scholar 

  5. Banatvala N, Magnano AR, Cartter ML (1996) Meat grinders and molecular epidemiology: two supermarket outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection. J Infect Dis 173:480–483

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Fraser ME, Fujinaga M, Cherney MM, et al (2004) Structure of Shiga toxin type 2 (Stx2) from Escherichia coli O157:H7. J Biol Chem 279:27,511–27,517

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Friedrich A W, Bielaszewska M, Zhang WL, et al (2002) Escherichia coli harboring Shiga toxin 2 gene variants: frequency and association with clinical symptoms. J Infect Dis 185:74–84

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. LeJeune JT, Abedon ST, Takemura K, Christie NP, Sreevatsan S (2004) Human Escherichia coli O157:H7 genetic marker in isolates of bovine origin. Emerg Infect Dis 10:1482–1485

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ludwig K, Sarkim V, Bitzan M, et al. (2002) Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection and antibodies against Stx2 and Stx1 in household contacts of children with enteropathic hemolytic-uremic syndrome. J Clin Microbiol 40:1773–1782

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Matsutani S, Ohtsubo E (1990) Complete sequence of IS629. Nucleic Acid Res 7:1899

    Google Scholar 

  11. Matsutani S, Ohtsubo E (1993) Distribution of the Shigella sonnei insertion elements in Enterobactericeae. Gene 127:111–115

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Mead PS, Griffin PM (1998) Escherichia coli O157:H7. Lancet 352:1207–1212

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nataro JP, Kaper JB (1998) Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli. Clin Microbiol Rev 11:142–201

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Plunket GIII, Rose DJ, Durfee TJ, Blattner FR (1999) Sequence of Shiga toxin 2 phage 933W from Escherichia coli O157:H7 Shiga toxin as a phage late-gene product. J Bacteriol 181:1767–1778

    Google Scholar 

  15. Pradel N, Boukhors K, Bertin Y, Forestier C, Martin C, Livrelli V (2001) Heterogeneity of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated from hemolytic-uremic syndrome patients, cattle, and food samples in central France. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:2460–2468

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Sanderson MW, Sargeant JM, Shi X, Nagaraja TG, Zurek L, Alam MJ (2006) Longitudinal emergence and distribution of Escherichia coli genetic strains in a beef feedlot. Appl Environ Microbiol (in press).

  17. SAS Institute (2003) SAS OnlineDoc® 9.1. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC

    Google Scholar 

  18. Wagner PL, Neely MN, Zhang X, Acheson DW, Waldor MK, Friedman DI (2001) Role of a phage promoter in Shiga toxin 2 expression from a pathogenic Escherichia coli strain. J Bacteriol 183:2081–2085

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Jan Metlevski for technical assistance and Dr. David Margolies for reviewing the manuscript. This study was funded by the USDA grant 34359-13008. This is contribution No. 06-339-J from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, 123 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Aqeel Ahmad & Ludek Zurek

Authors
  1. Aqeel Ahmad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ludek Zurek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ludek Zurek.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ahmad, A., Zurek, L. Evaluation of the Anti-Terminator Q933 Gene as a Marker for Escherichia coli O157:H7 with High Shiga Toxin Production. Curr Microbiol 53, 324–328 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-006-0089-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-006-0089-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation