Attaching and effacing Escherichia coli is a new causal agent of diarrhea in calves. Its major virulence factors are the intimin protein, encoded by the eaeA gene, and the Shiga-like toxins, encoded by slt genes. Because the sequences of these genes are available, we selected specific primers to amplify each virulence gene so as to develop a new identification test based on multiplex amplificat...

Paenibacillus larvae is the etiological agent of American foulbrood (AFB) in honeybees. Recently, different genotypes of P. larvae (ERIC I to ERIC IV) were defined, and it was shown that these genotypes differ inter alia in their virulence on the larval level. On the colony level, bees mitigate AFB through the hygienic behavior of nurse bees. Therefore, we investigated how the hygienic behavior...

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the etiologic agent of the tropical disease melioidosis and is considered to be a potential biological weapon. Two B. pseudomallei-like species, Burkholderia oklahomensis and Burkholderia thailandensis, have been described in the literature. Infections with both of these microorganisms have occurred in the United States, but little is known about the relative virule...