Genetic Typing of Shiga Toxin 2 Variants of Escherichia coli by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis |
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| Authors: | Liesbet De Baets, Imme Van der Taelen, Marina De Filette, Denis Pi rard, Lesley Allison, Henri De Greve, Jean-Pierre Hernalsteens, Hein Imberechts |
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| Affiliation: | Liesbet De Baets, Imme Van der Taelen, Marina De Filette, Denis Piérard, Lesley Allison, Henri De Greve, Jean-Pierre Hernalsteens, and Hein Imberechts |
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| Abstract: | Shiga toxins Stx1 and Stx2 play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections. Several variants of the stx2 gene, encoding Stx2, have been described. In this study, we developed a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism system for typing stx2 genes of STEC strains. The typing system discriminates eight described variants and allows the identification of new stx2 variants and STEC isolates carrying multiple stx2 genes. A phylogenetic tree, based on the nucleotide sequences of the toxin-encoding genes, demonstrates that stx2 sequences with the same PvuII HaeIII HincII AccI type generally cluster together. |
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