Studies on the Growth of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strains at 45.5°C

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Abstract
The objectives of the present report were to examine the ability of 18 strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to grow in EC broth at 42.4, 43.5, 44.5, and 45.5°C, and to document the incidence of phenotypic variants present in low numbers that are capable of growth at 45.5°C in EC broth. Among the 18 strains of E. coli O157:H7 studied, only 3 were capable of producing turbid growth with gas formation in EC broth at 45.5°C with 1 × 102 initial CFU/ml. Higher initial densities of CFU resulted in turbid growth and gas formation in EC broth at 45.5°C with all strains. The presence of bile salts #3 in EC broth was found to be inhibitory at 45.5° C. All 18 strains were found to be capable of growth at 45.5°C in nonselective media. The ability of at least one sensitive strain to grow in EC broth at 45.5°C was found to be dependent on the initial number of CFU/ml. Prior growth of cells of a sensitive strain in EC broth at 45.5°C from a cell density of 2.0 × 107 to 8.0 × 107 CFU/ml followed by removal of cells and re...