Open AccessClinical relevance and virulence factors of pigmented Serratia marcescens
Author(s) -
Carbonell G.V.,
Della Colleta H.H.M.,
Yano T.,
Darini A.L.C.,
Levy C.E.,
Fonseca B.A.L.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
fems immunology & medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1574-695X
pISSN - 0928-8244
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-695x.2000.tb01469.x
Subject(s) - serratia marcescens , virulence , serotype , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , tetracycline , ampicillin , typing , bacteria , enterobacteriaceae , virology , antibiotics , escherichia coli , gene , genetics
Pigmented Serratia marcescens isolated in a Brazilian hospital were studied with respect to frequency of isolation, serotyping, antibiotic resistance and virulence factors. The serotype most frequent was O6:K14 (53%) and all isolates were resistant to ampicillin, cephalothin and tetracycline. The majority of the isolates (92%) were resistant to the action of human serum and all produced cytotoxins on Vero, CHO, HEp‐2 and HeLa cells. These isolates were virulent for mice (LD 50 =10 7 bacteria ml −1 ) and showed virulence factors, but were isolated with low frequency (3.4%) and caused infection in only 31% of cases. Analysis of serotyping, phage typing and chromosomal DNA revealed at least 13 unrelated strains among pigmented S. marcescens . In conclusion, this work describes a low frequency of isolation of pigmented S. marcescens from clinical specimens, indicating that non‐pigmented strains are clinically more significant.