Identification of two new intimin types in atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Authors Miguel Blanco E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain Jesús E. Blanco E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain Ghizlane Dahbi E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain María P. Alonso E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain; and Clinical Microbiology Unity, Xeral-Calde Hospital, Lugo, Spain Azucena Mora E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain María A. Coira Clinical Microbiology Unity, Xeral-Calde Hospital, Lugo, Spain Cristina Madrid Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Spain Antonio Juárez Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Spain María I. Bernárdez E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain Enrique A. González E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain Jorge Blanco E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain Keywords: attaching and effacing E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, eae gene, intimin, locus of enterocyte effacement Abstract Stool specimens of patients with diarrhea or other gastrointestinal alterations who were admitted to Xeral-Calde Hospital (Lugo, Spain) were analyzed for the prevalence of typical and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC). Atypical EPEC strains (eae+ bfp–) were detected in 105 (5.2%) of 2015 patients, whereas typical EPEC strains (eae+ bfp+) were identified in only five (0.2%) patients. Atypical EPEC strains were (after Salmonella) the second most frequently recovered enteropathogenic bacteria. In this study, 110 EPEC strains were characterized. The strains belonged to 43 O serogroups and 69 O:H serotypes, including 44 new serotypes not previously reported among human EPEC. However, 29% were of one of three serogroups (O26, O51, and O145) and 33% belonged to eight serotypes (O10:H–, O26:H11, O26:H–, O51:H49, O123:H19, O128:H2, O145:H28, and O145:H–). Only 14 (13%) could be assigned to classical EPEC serotypes. Fifteen intimin types, namely, α1 (6 strains), α2 (4 strains), β1 (34 strains), ξR/β2 (6 strains), γ1 (13 strains), γ2/θ (16 strains), δ/k (5 strains), ε1 (9 strains), νR/ε2 (5 strains), ζ (6 strains), ι1 (1 strain), μR/ι2 (1 strain), νB (1 strain), ξB (1 strain), and ο (2 strains), were detected among the 110 EPEC strains, but none of the strains was positive for intimin types μ1, μ2, λ, or μB. In addition, in atypical EPEC strains of serotypes O10:H–, O84:H–, and O129:H–, two new intimin genes (eae-νB and eae-ο) were identified. These genes showed less than 95% nucleotide sequence identity with existing intimin types. Phylogenetic analysis revealed six groups of closely related intimin genes: (i) α1, α2, ζ, νB, and ο; (ii) ι1 and μR/ι2; (iii) β1, ξR/β2B, δ/β2O, and κ; (iv) ε1, ξB, η1,η2, and νR/ε2; (v) γ1, μB, γ2, and θ; and (vi) λ. These results indicate that atypical EPEC strains belonging to large number of serotypes and with different intimin types might be frequently isolated from human clinical stool samples in Spain. [Int Microbiol 2006; 9(2):103-110] Downloads PDF Published 2010-02-25 Issue Vol. 9 No. 2 (2006) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. 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