An ileX tRNA gene is located close to the Shiga toxin II operon in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 and non-O157 strains.

A cosmid library of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strain EDL 933 was constructed and clones carrying the stx2 gene were identified by colony blot hybridization with a stx2B specific probe. Nucleotide sequencing upstream of the stx2A gene revealed high sequence identities of 89.5% to the ileX tRNA gene found in E. coli. The ileX gene was located 260 bp from the translational start codon of stx2A. PCR analysis with primers specific for this analyzed region showed that in 11 Stx2-producing EHEC strains from patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome, all PCR-positive strains carried the ileX tRNA gene. However, PCR analysis of the respective region in 11 Stxl-producing EHEC strains detected no ileX genes. Although the role of ileX in Stx2-producing EHEC strains is not clear, its function in regard to the use of rare codons and as an integration site is discussed.

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