<i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> virulence factors, including listeriolysin O, are secreted in biologically active extracellular vesicles.

ABSTRACT: Outer membrane vesicles produced by Gram-negative bacteria have been studied for half a century but the possibility that Gram-positive bacteria secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs) was not pursued until recently due to the assumption that the thick peptidoglycan cell wall would prevent their release to the environment. However, following their discovery in fungi, which also have cell walls, EVs have now been described for a variety of Gram-positive bacteria. EVs purified from Gram-positive bacteria are implicated in virulence, toxin release, and transference to host cells, eliciting immune responses, and spread of antibiotic resistance. Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium that causes listeriosis. Here we report that L. monocytogenes produces EVs with diameters

SUBMITTER: Coelho C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6349127 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature