Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O26:H11, a serotype within Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) that causes severe human disease, has been considered to have evolved from attaching and effacing E. coli (AEEC) O26:H11 through the acquisition of a Shiga toxin-encoding gene. Targeted amplicon sequencing using next-generation sequencing technology of 48 phylogenetically informative single...

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) food contaminations pose serious health concerns, and have been the subject of massive food recalls. STEC has been identified as the major cause of the life-threatening complication of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Besides supportive care, there currently are no therapeutics available. The use of antibiotics for combating pathogenic E. coli is no...

Escherichia coli strains isolated from patients with diarrhea or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) at Pusan University Hospital, South Korea, between 1990 and 1996 were examined for traits of the O157:H7 serogroup. One strain isolated from a patient with HUS belonged to the O157:H7 serotype, possessed a 60-MDa plasmid, the eae gene, and ability to produce Shiga toxin 1 but not Shiga toxin 2. Arbi...

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are important enteric pathogens worldwide, causing diarrhea with or without blood visibly present and hemolytic uremic syndrome. STEC are unique among diarrheogenic E coli in producing Shiga toxin type 1 and type 2, the virulence factors responsible for bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Cattle and other ruminants are the natural reservo...

Molly M. Leeper Trends in Toxin Profiles of Human Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherchia coli (STEC) O157 Strains, United States, 1996-2008 (Under the direction of Dr. Karen Gieseker, faculty member) Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) cause diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). All STEC produce one or both of two Shiga toxins, Stx1 and Stx2. STEC strains that produce S...

References 1. Schmidt H. Shiga-toxin-converting bacteriophages. Res Microbiol. 2001;152:687–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0923-2508(01)01249-9 2. Melton-Celsa A, Mohawk K, Teel L, O’Brien A. Pathogenesis of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2012;357:67–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/82_2011_176 3. Manning SD, Motiwala AS, Springman AC, Qi W, Lacher DW, Ouelle...

The cellular entry of the bacterial Shiga toxin and the related verotoxins has been scrutinized in quite some detail. This is due to their importance as a threat to human health. At the same time, the study of Shiga toxin has allowed the discovery of novel molecular mechanisms that also apply to the intracellular trafficking of endogenous proteins at the plasma membrane and in the endosomal sys...

This study examined Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, using phage typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and typing of Shiga toxin variant genes by PCR with restriction fragment length polymorphism in an epidemiological survey of STEC O157 isolated from humans in Finland between 1990 and 1999.

We investigated an outbreak of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli at a high school in Minnesota, USA, in November 2010. Consuming undercooked venison and not washing hands after handling raw venison were associated with illness. E. coli O103:H2 and non-Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O145:NM were isolated from ill students and venison.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes severe illness in humans, including hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. A parallel evolutionary model was proposed in which E. coli strains of distinct phylogenies independently integrate Shiga toxin-encoding genes and evolve into STEC. We report the draft genomes of two emerging non-O157 STEC strains.