Adhesion pili (fimbriae) play a critical role in initiating the events that lead to intestinal colonization and diarrheal disease by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), an E. coli pathotype that inflicts an enormous global disease burden. We elucidate atomic structures of an ETEC major pilin subunit, CfaB, from colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I) fimbriae. These data are used to construc...

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) of rice is a very destructive disease worldwide and is caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). The aim of the present study was to examine if the Xoo virulence pathotypes obtained using phenotypic pathotyping could be confirmed using molecular approach. After screening of 60 Operon primers with genomic DNA of two Xoo isolates (virulent pathotype, Vr, and mildl...

BACKGROUND Diarrhea is the leading infectious cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. Among bacterial agents, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) is the major causal agent of childhood diarrhea in developing countries, particularly in children under the age of 5 years. Here, we performed a hospital-based prospective study to explore the pathotype distribution, epidemiological characteristi...

Magnaporthe oryzae is a rice blast fungus and plant pathogen that causes a serious rice disease and, therefore, poses a threat to the world's second most important food security crop. Plant transformation technology has become an adaptable system for cultivar improvement and to functionally analyze genes in plants. The objective of this study was to determine the effects (through over-expressin...

AMONG IMPORTANT NEMATODE SPECIES OCCURRING IN JAPAN, CURRENT RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS WITH THE FOLLOWING FOUR NEMATODES ARE REVIEWED: 1) Soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines - breeding for resistance, race determination, association with Cephalosporium gregatum in azuki bean disease, and isolation of hatching stimulant. 2) Potato-cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera rostochiensis - pathotype...