Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract: Colicins are bactericidal macromolecules in protein structures and they are produced by some strains of Escherichia coli and Shigella, which are members of the Enterobacteriaceae. They have a bactericidal effect on the same species or closely related bacteria, but have no effect on the strains which produce them. In this study, 129 E. coli strains isolated from urine samples of patients in Izmir and Manisa were examined for colicin production, and the colicinogenic strains were examined for their colicin types by means of Horak specific indicator strains. Indicator strains were obtained from the National Type Culture Collection Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, Prague. Colicin production was determined by a modified version of the method of Djønne. Out of 129 uropathogenic E. coli strains, 33 (25.5%) were colicinogenic. Horak's typing scheme was used for the determination of colicin types. E. coli strains produced 20 different types of colicin. Most of the colicin types were of group E.

Key Words: Escherichia coli, colicin typing, urinary tract infections