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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2006, p. 4200-4206, Vol. 72, No. 6
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00137-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance DNA Microarray Detects a High Frequency of Virulence Genes in Escherichia coli Isolates from Great Lakes Recreational Waters

Katia Hamelin,1,2 Guillaume Bruant,3 Abdel El-Shaarawi,4 Stephen Hill,4 Thomas A. Edge,4 Sadjia Bekal,5 John Morris Fairbrother,3 Josée Harel,3 Christine Maynard,1 Luke Masson,1 and Roland Brousseau1,2*

Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave., Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4P 2R2,1 Département de Microbiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, 2900 Edouard Montpetit Blvd., Montréal, Québec, Canada H3T 1J4,2 Groupe de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses du Porc, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200 Sicotte Str., Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada J2S 7C6,3 National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7R 4A6,4 Laboratoire de Santé Publique du Québec, 20045 Chemin Sainte-Marie, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, Canada H9X 3R55

Received 18 January 2006/ Accepted 5 April 2006

Escherichia coli is generally described as a commensal species with occasional pathogenic strains. Due to technological limitations, there is currently little information concerning the prevalence of pathogenic E. coli strains in the environment. For the first time, using a DNA microarray capable of detecting all currently described virulence genes and commonly found antimicrobial resistance genes, a survey of environmental E. coli isolates from recreational waters was carried out. A high proportion (29%) of 308 isolates from a beach site in the Great Lakes carried a pathotype set of virulence-related genes, and 14% carried antimicrobial resistance genes, findings consistent with a potential risk for public health. The results also showed that another 8% of the isolates had unusual virulence gene combinations that would be missed by conventional screening. This new application of a DNA microarray to environmental waters will likely have an important impact on public health, epidemiology, and microbial ecology in the future.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave., Montréal, Québec, Canada H4P 2R2. Phone: (514) 496-6152. Fax: (514) 496-6213. E-mail: Roland.Brousseau{at}cnrc-nrc.gc.ca.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2006, p. 4200-4206, Vol. 72, No. 6
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00137-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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