Coliform bacteria are the most frequently reported bacteria to translocate after hemorrhage. We investigated the correlation between composition and diversity of the cecal coliform flora and the degree of translocation in a rat model of hemorrhagic stress. Two groups of nine rats each were bled to 60 and 50 mm Hg mean arterial blood pressure, respectively. A sham-operated group without bleeding (n = 9) and a noninstrumented group (n = 6) served as controls. From each rat, 40 coliform isolates from the cecum and up to 16 from positive mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cultures were tested with an automated biochemical fingerprinting method. The phenotypic diversity of coliforms in each cecal sample was calculated as Simpson's diversity index (DI), and similarities between bacterial types in different samples were calculated as population similarity coefficients. Three rats in the sham-operated group and seven in each of the bled groups showed bacterial translocation. Of the different biochemical phenotypes (BPTs) found in the cecum of bled rats (mean, 6.5 BPTs), only a few were detected in MLNs (mean, 1.9 BPTs per MLN), with Escherichia coli being the dominant species. The translocating E. coli strains were mainly of two BPTs. Rats showing no translocation either did not carry these strains or had a high diversity of coliforms in the cecum. Furthermore, translocation of these coliform types was independent of their proportion in the cecum. In bled rats, the diversity of coliforms (mean DI, 0.53) was significantly higher than that in control groups (mean DI, 0.30; P = 0.004), suggesting that hemorrhage stimulates an increase in diversity of cecal coliforms. Rats with similar coliform flora and subjected to the same treatment showed similar patterns of translocation. Our results suggest that the composition of the coliform flora is an important factor in translocation and that certain coliform strains have the ability to translocate and survive in MLNs more easily than others.