Most bacteria that colonize eukaryotes must bind directly to host cells to establish a replicative niche. In enteric bacteria, adhesion to host cells is often promoted by a lectin found on surface-localized pili. Some pili promote efficient adhesion only when they are subjected to shear stress, as found during the flow of blood over endothelium or mucous over the surface of the epithelium.

Bacteriophages are widely recognized for their importance in microbial ecology and bacterial control. However, little is known about how phage polyvalence (i.e., broad host range) affects bacterial suppression and interspecies competition in environments harboring enteric pathogens and soil bacteria. Here we compare the efficacy of polyvalent phage PEf1 versus coliphage T4 in suppressing a mode...

Anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics alter the risk of breast cancer in women, but roles for bacteria and inflammation in breast malignancies are poorly understood. A recent study in mice suggests that intestinal bacteria can trigger mammary carcinoma. The mechanisms involved in this effect suggest that dysregulated host immune responses to enteric bacteria can influence the development of e...

The small DNA binding protein Fis is involved in several different biological processes in Escherichia coli. It has been shown to stimulate DNA inversion reactions mediated by the Hin family of recombinases, stimulate integration and excision of phage lambda genome, regulate the transcription of several different genes including those of stable RNA operons, and regulate the initiation of DNA re...

Abstract Photorhabdus luminescens is an enteric bacterium with two faces: on the one hand these bacteria live in symbiosis soil nematodes, other they are highly pathogenic for insects. The population also phenotypically heterogeneous: part lives symbiotically interacts plants. Cell-cell communication, inter-kingdom signaling, and gene regulation processes behind complex decision of being friend...

After entering the gastrointestinal (GI) tract on the way to their physiological site of infection, enteric bacteria encounter a remarkable diversity in environmental conditions. There are gross differences in the physico-chemical parameters in different sections of the GI tract e.g. between the stomach, small intestine and large intestine. Furthermore, even within a certain anatomical site, th...

The photo-disinfection of natural alkaline surface water (pH 8.6 ± 0.3) for drinking purposes was carried out under solar radiation treatments. The enteric bacteria studied were the wild total coliforms/Escherichia coli (10(4) CFU/ml) and Salmonella spp. (10(4) CFU/ml) naturally present in the water. The photo-disinfection of a 25-l water sample was carried out in a solar compound parabolic col...

Wetlands containing floating, emergent and submergent aquatic plants, and other water-tolerant species have been found to economically provide a mechanism of enhancing the quality of domestic wastewater. The use of constructed wetlands for the removal of indicator bacteria (total and fecal coliforms), coliphages, protozoan parasites (Giardia and Cryptosporidium) and enteric viruses was investig...

We have examined the distribution of cobalamin (coenzyme B12) synthetic ability and cobalamin-dependent metabolism among enteric bacteria. Most species of enteric bacteria tested synthesize cobalamin under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and ferment glycerol in a cobalamin-dependent fashion. The group of species including Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium cannot ferment glycerol...