Characterization of enterobacteria by esterase specific-activity profiles

The spectrum of specific activities and the electrophoretic mobilities of esterases produced by 550 strains of Enterobacteriaceae belonging to 36 species and subclassified into six groups (group 1, Escherichia coli, Shigella and Escherichia hermanii; group 2, genus Salmonella and genus Citrobacter; group 3, genus Klebsiella and genus Enterobacter; group 4, genus Serratia and Serratia fonticola; group 5, genus Proteus, genus Providencia and genus Morganella; and group 6, genus Yersinia) were analysed by acrylamide/agarose gel electrophoresis using standardized methods for staining and mobility comparisons. Nineteen types of esterase were defined by their respective esterase specific-activity profile (ESAP). A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of the ESAP data enabled 82% of the strains in the 36 species to be correctly classified. In each group, the species were clearly delineated after MCA on both ESAP and electrophoretic mobility data. In addition, the smallest number of characters providing species identification of Yersinia strains by esterase polymorphism was identified by means of a binary segmentation tree technique.