Open AccessDetection of carbohydrases as a possible method of differentiating faecal and non‐faecal Escherichia coli
Author(s) -
Olusanya O.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1985.tb01096.x
Subject(s) - maltase , lactase , escherichia coli , feces , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , enzyme , sucrase , invertase , food science , disaccharidase , biochemistry , gene
Escherichia coli isolated from faeces, urine, wounds and pus were examined for the production of carbohydrases, i.e., maltase, lactase and invertase. Two of the carbohydrases, lactase and maltase, have been detected in E. coli of faecal origin (100 strains) whereas these enzymes were not detected in non‐faecal E. coli (146 strains). These inductive enzymes were produced optimally in synthetic medium, pH 7.2, at 37°C for 10 h. The presence of maltase and lactase in the faecal E. coli may be used as a complementary test for differentiating faecal E. coli from non‐faecal E. coli .