Although most Salmonella serovars are able to infect a range of animal hosts, some have acquired the ability to cause systemic infections of specific hosts. For example, Salmonella enterica serovar Choleraesuis is primarily associated with systemic infection in swine. Adherence to host epithelial cells is considered a prerequisite for initial infection, and fimbrial appendages on the outer memb...

Escherichia coli isolates from patients with bacteriuria of pregnancy were compared by PCR with isolates from patients with community-acquired cystitis for the presence of established virulence determinants. The strains from patients with bacteriuria of pregnancy were less likely to carry genes for P-family, S-family, and F1C adhesins, cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1, and aerobactin, but virtual...

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) infections are still one of the most important etiologic pathogens of diarrhea in children worldwide. EAEC pathogenesis comprises three stages: adherence and colonization, production of toxins, and diarrhea followed by inflammation. Previous studies have demonstrated that EAEC strains have the ability to bind to fibronectin (FN); however, the role this ...

Type 1 fimbriae can be expressed by most Escherichia coli strains and mediate mannose-sensitive (MS) adherence to mammalian epithelial cells. However, the role of type 1 fimbriae in enteric pathogenesis has been unclear. Expression of type 1 fimbriae in E. coli is phase variable and is associated with the inversion of a short DNA element (fim switch). Forty-six strains of diarrheagenic E. coli ...

Uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli establish urinary tract infections by attaching to host epithelial cells using adhesive organelles called fimbriae. Fimbriae are helix-like structures with a remarkable adaptability, offering safeguarding for bacteria exposed to changing fluid forces in the urinary tract. We challenged this property of P-fimbriae by cross-linking their subunits with sha...

Many different species of the family Enterobacteriaceae have been shown to possess fimbrial appendages which emerge from the bacterial cell as straight, rigid organelles distinct from flagella (14). The role of fimbriae (synonym: pili) as adhesins in both enterotoxigenic and uropathogenic isolates of Escherichia coli has been demnonstrated, and thus the identification of such appendages as viru...

The gram-negative anaerobic bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis is an etiologically important pathogen for chronic periodontal diseases in adults. Our previous study suggested that the major structural components of both Fim and Mfa fimbriae in this organism are secreted through their lipidated precursors. In this study, we constructed Escherichia coli strains expressing various fimA genes with ...

The mechanisms underlying the adherence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) strains to intestinal epithelial cells are poorly understood. We have identified a chromosomal region (designated lpfABCC'DE) in EHEC O157:H7 containing six putative open reading frames that was found to be closely related to the long polar (LP) fimbria operon (lpf) of Salmonella enter...

Klebsiella pneumoniae type 3 fimbriae are encoded by mrkABCDF genes which produce the major pilin subunit MrkA, chaperone MrkB, outer membrane usher MrkC, adhesin MrkD and MrkF of unknown function, respectively. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the mrkF gene is contained within the mrk operon. Deletion of mrkF in K. pneumoniae CG43 was found to reduce biofilm formation. A higher level of biofi...

Fimbriae and enterotoxins are major virulence factors associated with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). In this study, 3 sets of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) assays targeting fimbriae, enterotoxins, and other adherence factors were developed for detecting ETEC. A total number of 188 E. coli field isolates were examined, and percentages of E. coli strains carrying each virul...