Medical
microbiologists have established how the bacterium Escherichia coli knows how
to cause the worst possible infection. The new insight should assist with
preventing the foodborne illnesses.
Researchers
at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have shown how the common foodborne
pathogen Escherichia coli (E. coli) assesses where and when to begin colonizing
the human colon. This is through signalling, which signals to the organism that
it is in a low-oxygen environment (as with the large intestine). This switches
the virulence factor and provides the bacterium with a more effective means for
establishing a stronger infection. In essence, E. coli has the capacity to wait
until it has reached the-low oxygen large intestine before striking as specific
genes are activated.
Commenting on the
new assessment,
principal scientists Dr. Melissa Kendall said: “Bacterial pathogens typically
colonize a specific tissue in the host. Therefore, as part of their infection
strategies, bacterial pathogens precisely time deployment of proteins and
toxins to these specific colonization niches in the human host.”
The
researcher adds that this mechanism enables the bacteria to conserve energy and
hide from being detected by the body’s immune systems. This is known as a
virulence factor, which is when a substance released by a microorganism allows
it to evade host defences or cause serious injury to the host.
The new research
delivers
the prospect that through understanding how bacterial pathogens sense where
they are in the body, microbiologists may be able to prevent E. coli from
sensing where they are inside a human host. This should lead to the organisms
passing through the body without causing an infection.
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology
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