Inducible stx2 phages are lysogenized in the enteroaggregative and other phenotypic Escherichia coli O86 : HNM isolated from patients

We characterized two Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O86:HNM isolates from a patient with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or bloody diar rhea. Both of them did not possess the eaeA gene. However, the isolate from a HUS patient carried genetic markers of enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and showed aggregative adherence pattern to HEp-2 cells. The other isolate from bloody diarrhea, which was negative with EAEC markers, was diffusely a dhered to HEp-2 cells. The stx2 gene in both E. coil O86:HNM strains was en coded in each infectious phage, which was partially homologous to that of s train EDL933, a STEC O157:H7. These results will help to explain the genoty pic divergences of STEC. (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiological So cieties. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.