Virulence patterns and long-range genetic mapping of extraintestinal Escherichia coli K1, K5, and K100 isolates: use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

A total of 127 extraintestinal Escherichia coli strains of the capsule serotypes K1, K5, and K100 from human and animal sources were analyzed for DNA sequences specific for the genes for various adhesins (P fimbriae [pap] and P-related sequences [prs], S fimbriae [sfa]/F1C fimbriae [foc], and type I fimbriae [fim]), aerobactin (aer), and hemolysin (hly). The expression of corresponding virulence factors was also tested. Twenty-four selected strains were analyzed by long-range DNA mapping to evaluate their genetic relationships. DNA sequences for the adhesins were often found in strains not expressing them, while strains with hemolysin and aerobactin genes usually did express them. Different isolates of the same serotype often expressed different virulence patterns. The use of virulence-associated gene probes for Southern hybridization with genomic DNA fragments separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that a highly heterogeneous restriction fragment length and hybridization pattern existed even within strains of the same serotype. Long-range DNA mapping is therefore useful for the evaluation of genetic relatedness among individual isolates and facilitates the performance of precise molecular epidemiology.