Genotypic and phenotypic characterisation of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli from children in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is a significant cause of diarrhoeal illness in both children and adults. Genetic heterogeneity and recovery of EAEC strains from both healthy and diseased individuals complicates our understanding of EAEC pathogenesis. We wished to establish if genetic or phenotypic attributes could be used to distinguish between strains asymptomatically colonising healthy individuals and those which cause disease. Genotypic screening of a collection of twenty four EAEC isolates from children with and without diarrhoea revealed no significant differences in the repertoire of putative virulence factors present in either group of strains. In contrast, EAEC strains from phylogroup A were more strongly associated with asymptomatic groups whereas strains from phylogrou

SUBMITTER: Franca FL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3728331 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature