Development of a highly specific assay for rapid identification of pathogenic strains of Yersinia enterocolitica based on PCR amplification of the Yersinia heat-stable enterotoxin gene (yst)

Abstract

The chromosomal gene yst, which encodes a heat-stable enterotoxin of Yersinia enterocolitica, is a useful diagnostic marker because it occurs only in invasive strains of this species. A homologous gene also occurs in some strains of Yersinia kristensenii. Sequence analysis of the yst genes from two different strains of T. enterocolitica and from Y. kristensenii revealed a substantial number of mismatches at the 3' ends of the yst genes of the so- called American and European biotypes of Y. enterocolitica. Moreover, several mismatches and a deletion of 5 codons were found in the yst of Y. kristensenii. These findings were used to develop a PCR-based assay for yst of Y. enterocolitica which yi..