Hosts and parasites often have extensive genetic diversity for resistance and virulence (host range). Qualitative diversity occurs when the success of attack is an all-or-nothing response that varies according to the genotypes of the host and parasite. Quantitative diversity occurs when the success of attack is a graded response that depends on additive genetic variation in the host and parasit...

Platostoma rotundifolium (Briq.) A. J. Paton aerial parts are widely used in Burundi traditional medicine to treat infectious diseases. In order to investigate their probable antibacterial activities, crude extracts from P. rotundifolium were assessed for their bactericidal and anti-virulence properties against an opportunistic bacterial model, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Whereas none of the t...

Escherichia coli is the leading cause of Gram-negative neonatal septicemia in the United States. Invasion and passage across the neonatal gut after ingestion of maternal E. coli strains produce bacteremia. In this study, we compared the virulence properties of the neonatal E. coli bacteremia clinical isolate SCB34 with the archetypal neonatal E. coli meningitis strain RS218. Whole-genome sequen...

Background:Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are the most common infectious diseases in childhood. The Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains account for as much as 80% of UTIs. Objective:From a clinical perspective, it is important to know which virulence factors and antibiotic resistance properties are present in UPEC strains in pediatrics. Therefore, this study was carried out...

Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the severe enteric disease cholera. To cause cholera the bacterium must be able to synthesize both cholera toxin (CT) and toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP) which mediates autoagglutination and is required for colonization of the small intestine. Only a few environmental signals have been shown to regulate V. cholerae virulence gene expression. Polyamines, w...

Enterobacter cloacae is not a primary human pathogen but has been considered to be an important cause of nosocomial infections. Even so, there are almost no reports on its ability to produce recognized virulence-associated properties. In this study, we show that most of the E. cloacae strains examined were resistant to serum bactericidal activity and were able to produce aerobactin and mannose-...

The bacterial envelope plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the structure and molecular composition of the Legionella pneumophila cell envelope. We describe lipopolysaccharides biosynthesis and the biological activities of membrane and periplasmic proteins and discuss their decisive functions during the pathogen-h...

While the influence of water in Helicobacter pylori culturability and membrane integrity has been extensively studied, there are little data concerning the effect of this environment on virulence properties. Therefore, we studied the culturability of water-exposed H. pylori and determined whether there was any relation with the bacterium's ability to adhere, produce functional components of pat...

Campylobacter species cause a spectrum of illnesses in humans. The type of illness and the outcome is dependent on the virulence of the infecting pathogen strain and host immune status. Acute stress can seriously compromise host immunity and increase susceptibility to infection. Noradrenaline (NA) is a stress hormone. Several studies have shown that it stimulated growth and increased the pathog...