Patent ID: 7148005

Claim:
A method of testing a sample for the presence of E. coli encoding bacterial polysaccharide O-antigen serotype O111, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a sample to be tested; (b) providing at least one oligonucleotide molecule which is about 17 to 28 nucleotides in length, and hybridizes using highly stringent wash conditions, to a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: wbdH (nucleotide positions 739 to 1932 of SEQ ID NO:1); wzx (nucleotide positions 8646 to 9911 of SEQ ID NO:1) wzy (nucleotide positions 9901 to 10953 of SEQ ID NO:1); and wbdM (nucleotide positions 11821 to 12945 of SEQ ID NO:1) or to at least one nucleic acid sequence complementary to the group consisting of: wbdH (nucleotide positions 739 to 1932 of SEQ ID NO:1); wzx (nucleotide positions 8646 to 9911 of SEQ ID NO:1) wzy (nucleotide positions 9901 to 10953 of SEQ ID NO:1); and wbdM (nucleotide positions 11821 to 12945 of SEQ ID NO:1), (c) contacting said sample with said at least one oligonucleotide molecule to permit said oligonucleotide molecule to hybridize under said highly stringent wash conditions to said nucleic acid sequence when present in said sample; and (d) detecting any hybridized oligonucleotide molecules, wherein detection of said hybridized oligonucleotide molecules indicates the presence of said E. coli in said sample.