Shiga-Like Toxin-Converting Phages from Escherichia coli Strains that Cause Hemorrhagic Colitis or Infantile Diarrhea
Abstract
Escherichia coli K-12 acquired the ability to produce a high titer of Shiga-like toxin after lysogenization by either of two different bacteriophages isolated from a highly toxinogenic Escherichia coli 0157:H7 strain that causes hemorrhagic colitis. One of these phages and another Shiga-like toxin-converting phage from an Escherichia coli 026 isolate associated with infantile diarrhea were closely related in terms of morphology, virion polypeptides, DNA restriction fragments, lysogenic immunity, and heat stability, although a difference in host range was noted. These phages are currently the best-characterized representatives from a broader family of Shiga-like toxin-converting phages.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- November 1984
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.6387911
- Bibcode:
- 1984Sci...226..694O