Biochemical and Serological Patterns of Escherichia coli 02 Strains Isolated from Patients with Urinary Tract Infections

Summary We examined the results of two biochemical test systems for their ability to discriminate a series of 58 Escherichia coli O2 strains collected from patients with urinary tract infections. The O : K: H serotypes and O antigen factors of the strains were also determined. The strains could be assigned to 13 distinct serological patterns by means of 02 antigen factors as well as K and H antigens. The combination of O: K: H-serotyping with biotyping enabled very fine strain discrimination. These data indicate that the biotyping system of Achtman (BTA) is more precise than the Enterobacteriaceae -code-system described by Reiske (ECR) and that the determination of BTA types supports the identification of bacterial clones.