Laboratory & Services

REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR ESCHERICHIA COLI (EcL)

- Research team - Offered services -

 

Principal investigator :  Dr John M. Fairbrother

Telephone :                (450) 773-8521, office 8234 or laboratory 8342

Fax :                         (450) 778-8108

E-mail :                     This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. @umontreal.ca

Laboratory Supervisor :

  • Clarisse Desautels

Laboratory Technicians :

  • Lisette Beaudoin
  • Clarisse Desautels
  • Brigitte Lehoux
  • Jade-Pascale Prévost Lemyre

Administrative Staff :

  • Jacinthe Lachance
  • Louise Lafrenière

The E. coli Laboratory was founded in 1981 at the Faculté de médecine vétérinaire. The EcL has acquired a world wide reputation and was officially designated in 2006 as a Reference Laboratory for Escherichia coli of the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health).

 

OFFERED SERVICES (see also the Escherichia coli laboratory Web site) :
  • Pathotyping

Virulence factors generally tested :
STa, STb, LT, Stx1, Stx2, CNF, F4, F18, P, Eae, Tsh, Aerobactine.

Various factors are suggested depending on the animal species and clinical signs.
We can test for additional fimbrial adhesins or other virulence factors if desired.
(More details)

  • Virotyping

We test for the following 20 virulence factors, using colony hybridization :
Toxins : LT, STa, STb, Stx1, Stx2, CNF, EAST1, Aerobactine, Tsh.
Fimbriae / adhesins : F4, F5, F6, F41, P, AFA, F17, F18ab/ac, Eae, Paa, AIDA.

Subtyping of certain fimbrial adhesins can also be done by PCR. For example, for F4, we can identify the subtypes ab, ac, and ad.
For P fimbriae, we can identify the subtypes F7 to F16, and F165.
(More details)

  • Serotyping

OK serotyping :
Pool 1N;
Pool 2N.

Adhesin serotyping :
F4(K88) and F5(K99) (detection by slide agglutination or PCR);
F6(987P) and F41 (detection by PCR).
More than 85 O serogroups
H typing :
We can test for H7, H10 and H43 antigens by PCR.
(More details)

  • Molecular epidemiology

We use pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
(More details)

  • Antimicrobial susceptibility

By standard Kirby-Bauer technique or by MIC, or by detection of the resistance genes using colony hybridization.

  • Culture collection

More than 10 000 E. coli strains and various reference and control E. coli strains are available.