1887

Abstract

The presence of bacteriophages encoding Shiga toxin 2 ( phages) was analysed in 168 strains of Shiga-toxin-producing (STEC) isolated from cattle. Following mitomycin C induction, strains carrying phages were screened by plaque blot and hybridization with an -probe. In the -phage-carrying strains, the amounts of phage production, phage DNA extracted and Stx produced after induction were assessed. The induced phages were characterized morphologically and genetically. Assays to obtain lysogens from different strains were also carried out and phages induced from the lysogens were compared with those induced from the STEC isolates. Results indicated that 18 % of the strains carried an inducible phage. Most of them showed a direct relationship between phage induction and toxin production. Each strain carried only one inducible phage, although a few strains had two copies of the in the chromosome. The phages showed diverse morphology and a wide variability in their genome. Assays to obtain lysogens showed that not all the phages were transduced with the same frequency and only six lysogens were obtained. Phages in the lysogens were the same as those induced from their respective initial STEC host strains, although the induction and relative toxin production of the lysogens varied. Most phages carried the gene, while a few carried variants. Infectivity of the phages depended on the different hosts, although O157 : H7 was preferentially infected by phages induced from O157 strains. The results show that inducible phages are common among STEC of animal origin and that they may enhance the spread of .

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2004-09-01
2024-03-29
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