Abstract: Background and Aim: Typing of bacterial strains is used for epidemiologic studies. Here we investigated the distribution of ERIC elements in the complete genome sequences of Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains. The aim of the current study was to apply ERIC-PCR method for molecular typing of E. coli strains isolated from influent of Tehran province surface water treatment plants by ERIC-PCR. Materials and Methods: Current study included E. coli strains all isolated from 5 Tehran province surface water treatment plants. Bacterial isolates were all detected and identified by standard microbiological and biochemical tests and genomic fingerprints and relationship between the strains was evaluated by ERIC-PCR using specific primers followed by UPGMA clustering method applying online in silico tool. Results: One hundred and six E. coli isolates were collected from Tehran surface water sources. Applying ERIC-PCR, all strains were typeable, since 32 different bands ranging from 163 to 3200 bp were amplified in different profiles. Following dendogram analysis, ERIC-PCR could categorize the strains within 9 ERIC clusters. Conclusion: The results of current study confirmed that E. coli strains isolated from different treatment plants of Tehran province belong to diverse clones and different genotypes and could not be divided in any specific clusters. However, ERIC-PCR is a powerful molecular tool with high performance and good discriminatory power.
Akhavan Sepahi A, Davari K, Akhtari L. Typing of E. coli isolated from influent of Tehran province treatment plants surface water by ERIC-PCR . pajoohande 2015; 20 (1) :38-44 URL: http://pajoohande.sbmu.ac.ir/article-1-1968-en.html