O-antigens present on the surface ofEscherichia coliprovide antigenic specificity for the strain and are the main components for O-serogroup designation. Serotyping using O-group-specific antisera for the identification ofE. coliO-serogroups has been traditionally the gold-standard for distinguishingE. colistrains. Knowledge of the O-group is important for determining pathogenic lineage, classifyingE. colifor epidemiological studies, for determining virulence, and for tracing outbreaks of diseases and sources of infection. However, serotyping has limitations, as the antisera generated against each specific O-group may cross-react, many strains are non-typeable, and others can autoagglutinate or be rough (lacking an O-antigen). Currently, the nucleotide sequences are available for most of the 187 designatedE. coliO-groups. Public health and other laboratories are considering whole genome sequencing to develop genotypic methods to determine O-groups. These procedures require instrumentation and analysis that may not be accessible and may be cost-prohibitive at this time. In this review, we have identified unique gene sequences within the O-antigen gene clusters and have targeted these genes for identification of O-groups using the polymerase chain reaction. This information can be used to distinguish O-groups by developing other platforms forE. colidiagnostics in the future.

中文翻译：

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大肠杆菌的分子血清群

存在于表面的O抗原大肠杆菌为菌株提供抗原特异性，并且是 O 血清群命名的主要成分。使用 O 组特异性抗血清进行血清分型以鉴定大肠杆菌O-血清群历来是区分的金标准大肠杆菌菌株。了解 O 群对于确定致病谱系、分类大肠杆菌用于流行病学研究、确定毒力以及追踪疾病的爆发和感染源。然而，血清分型有局限性，因为针对每个特定 O 组产生的抗血清可能会发生交叉反应，许多菌株是不可分型的，而其他菌株可能会自动凝集或粗糙（缺乏 O 抗原）。目前，核苷酸序列可用于指定的 187 个大肠杆菌O组。公共卫生和其他实验室正在考虑全基因组测序，以开发确定 O 组的基因型方法。这些程序需要仪器和分析，这些仪器和分析目前可能无法访问，而且成本可能过高。在这篇综述中，我们已经确定了 O 抗原基因簇中的独特基因序列，并使用聚合酶链式反应将这些基因作为目标来识别 O 基团。此信息可用于通过开发其他平台来区分 O 组大肠杆菌未来的诊断。