Detection of neuC gene for the presence of capsular polysaccharide among the clinical isolates of Escherichia coli

Capsular polysaccharides (K antigens) are one of the main virulence factors for Escherichia coli strains to cause urinary tract infections and neonatal meningitis. There are 50 chemically different capsular K antigens found, wherein only a few are associated with infective E.coli strains. These polysaccharides associated with disease that encodeK1 antigen (polysialic acid) are involved in causing a wide variety of infections such as septicemia, urinary tract infections, and meningitis. A total of 20 clinical isolates of E. coli were screened for the presence of neuC gene by PCR. We have observed 15% positivity among our isolates. This indicates that, the pathogenicity of urinary tract infections by these pathogens might be crucially played by this gene encoding K capsular polysaccharide.