CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW PUTATIVE COLONIZATION FACTOR (CS17) FROM A HUMAN ENTEROTOXIGENIC ESCHERICHIA-COLI OF SEROTYPE O114-H21 WHICH PRODUCES ONLY HEAT-LABILE ENTEROTOXIN

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC) of serotype O114:H21, which produced only heat-labile enterotoxin (LT), gave mannose-resistant hemagglutination (MRHA) with bovine erythrocytes. One strain, m0738A, wasshown to possess fimbriae of ∼7.5 nm diameter. On SOS-PAGE two possible fimbrial polypeptides of molecular masses 17.5and 15.5kDa were seen; the 17.5-kDa band was the most prominent. Loss of LT and MRHA together from strain E20738A was associated with loss of a l00-MDa plasmid. An absorbed anti-strain E20738A serum reacted specifically with the 17.5-and 15.5-kDa polypeptides and bound to the intact fimbriae. This antiserum reacted positively in an ELISA with LT-positive E. coli strains of serogroups O8, O15, O48, O114, and O146. The antiserum did not react with ETEC carrying known colonization factors. The term coli-surface-associated antigen (CS) 17 has been used to describe the fimbriae. © 1990 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.