Inheritance of Escherichia coli K88 adhesion in pigs: identification of nonadhesive phenotypes in a commercial herd.

A method for preparing fragments of brush border from the small intestinal epithelial cells of pigs was modified so that specimens as small as 3 mm X 3 mm could be used. This modification also allowed more rapid preparation and the brush borders thus prepared adhered specifically to K88+ but not K88- Escherichia coli. At slaughter 12.2 per cent of 459 bacon weight pigs from a commercial herd were of nonadherent phenotype. Litters containing only nonadherent pigs were identified. Parents of these litters and siblings intended for breeding stock replacements could be identified as probably also being of nonadherent phenotype and this was confirmed by examining biopsy samples obtained by enterotomy from the siblings.