Abstract
Water samples of the river Narmada from the source to the mouth were analyzed for the presence of shigellae and the Shigella isolates from 180 water samples were characterized by biotyping, serotyping and molecular typing. Out of all the 40 isolates, 23 were identified as S. flexneri, 10 as S. sonnei and 7 as S. dysenteriae. Serotyping was found to be the better identification method than biotyping. In the present investigation, amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) with a probe complementary to 16S rRNA was performed. Repeated ARDRA analysis established the similarities between the isolates and thus suggested ARDRA as authentic and precise detection protocol. The isolates were also analyzed for the presence of virulence genes including ipaBCD, ipaH and stx1. All the 40 isolates of Shigella were found to be positive for the ipaH gene. The plasmid encoded invasion-associated genes ipaBCD were present only in S. flexneri and the stx1 gene was found only in S. dysenteriae. This study demonstrated the existence of Shigella in the river Narmada and the dispersion of different virulence genes among the isolates, which appear to constitute an environmental reservoir of Shigella-specific virulence genes.