Identification of a gene within a pathogenicity island of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli H10407 required for maximal secretion of the heat-labile enterotoxin.

ABSTRACT: Studies of the pathogenesis of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) have largely centered on extrachromosomal determinants of virulence, in particular the plasmid-encoded heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable enterotoxins and the colonization factor antigens. ETEC causes illnesses that range from mild diarrhea to severe cholera-like disease. These differences in disease severity are not readily accounted for by our current understanding of ETEC pathogenesis. Here we demonstrate that Tia, a putative adhesin of ETEC H10407, is encoded on a large chromosomal element of approximately 46 kb that shares multiple features with previously described E. coli pathogenicity islands. Further analysis of the region downstream from tia revealed the presence of several candidate open reading frames (ORFs) i

SUBMITTER: Fleckenstein JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC97486 | biostudies-literature | 2000 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature