The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 35, Issue 5 270-277, Copyright © 1991 by Society for General Microbiology
Biochemical phenotypes of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli common to Iran and Sweden
M. Katouli, I. Kuhn and R. Mollby
Department of Bacteriology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
A collection of 143 strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) of
11 different serogroups isolated from children with diarrhoea, 71 in Sweden
and 72 in Iran, was tested for similarity with a computerised biochemical
fingerprinting method. From Sweden, there were 54 different phenotypes, 42
consisting of a single strain and 12 (common phenotypes) containing more
than one isolate. From Iran, there were 48 different phenotypes, 38 with
only one strain and 10 with more than one. Many of the strains which were
biochemically similar, in both countries, also had similar virulence
factors. Nine Swedish and 20 Iranian isolates showed biochemical identity
to at least one of the strains of the other country, most of them belonging
to serogroups O55, O119, O126, O127 and O128. The value of the biochemical
fingerprinting method as an epidemiological tool and its ability to
evaluate clonal relations among E. coli strains in different geographical
areas is discussed.
