A rapid and simple method of detecting enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) was developed. The procedure is based on amplifying by the PCR method a 326-bp region of the bundle-forming pilus gene of EPEC. The oligonucleotide DNA primers used in this procedure did not amplify DNA of any other bacterial enteropathogens tested. The procedure was 100% specific for EPEC strains that exhibit a characteristic pattern of attachment (localized adherence) to HeLa cells.
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