The sRNA DicF integrates oxygen sensing to enhance enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli virulence via distinctive RNA control mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: To establish infection, enteric pathogens integrate environmental cues to navigate the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and precisely control expression of virulence determinants. During passage through the GIT, pathogens encounter relatively high levels of oxygen in the small intestine before transit to the oxygen-limited environment of the colon. However, how bacterial pathogens sense oxygen availability and coordinate expression of virulence traits is not resolved. Here, we demonstrate that enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) regulates virulence via the oxygen-responsive small RNA DicF. Under oxygen-limited conditions, DicF enhances global expression of the EHEC type three secretion system, which is a key virulence factor required for host colonization, through the tran

SUBMITTER: Melson EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6628830 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature