Production of enterotoxin byEscherichia coli at four, twenty-two and thirty-seven degrees centigrade

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
One hundred and seventy-sevenEscherichia coli strains isolated from food, pigs and humans were tested for the production of heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxin at 4, 22, and 37 °C. Heat-labile enterotoxin was detected in culture supernatants by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and heat-stable enterotoxin by the infant mouse bioassay. Thirty strains produced heat-labile enterotoxin, and twenty heat-stable enterotoxin. None of the strains isolated from food were enterotoxigenic. Fifty-seven per cent of the human and porcine strains producing heat-labile enterotoxin at 37 °C also produced the toxin at 4 °C. The fact thatEscherichia coli enterotoxin may be present in food at consumption must be considered pathogenetically relevant.