ABSTRACT
Thirty-eight strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) were characterised in terms of biochemical properties, enterohaemolysin production and plasmid carriage. A wide variation in the biochemical properties was observed among the STEC, with 14 distinct biotypes identified. Biotype 1 was the most common, found in 29 percent of the strains. Enterohaemolysin production was detected in 29 percent of the strains. Most of the bacterial strains (95 percent) carried one or more plasmids and considerable heterogeneity in size and combinations was observed. Seven distinct plasmid profiles were identified. The most common profile, characterised by the presence of a single plasmid of ~90 kb, was found in 50 percent of these strains. These data indicate extensive diversity among STEC strains. No correlation was found among biotype, serotype, enterohaemolysin production and plasmid profile.