Autotransporter (AT) protein-encoding genes of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) pathotypes (cah, eatA, ehaABCDJ, espC, espI, espP, pet, pic, sat, and tibA) were detected in typical and atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) in frequencies between 0.8% and 39.3%. Although these ATs have been described in particular DEC pathotypes, their presence in EPEC indicates that they should not be co...

The presence of the pathogenicity island (PAI) O122 genes, efa1 (lifA), sen, pagC, nleB, and nleE, in typical and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains was investigated. The simultaneous occurrence of all genes was statistically associated with diarrhea due to atypical EPEC. Detection of the complete PAI O122 could aid in the identification of potential pathogenic strains of...

Typical and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains differ in several characteristics. Typical EPEC, a leading cause of infantile diarrhea in developing countries, is rare in industrialized countries, where atypical EPEC seems to be a more important cause of diarrhea. For typical EPEC, the only reservoir is humans; for atypical EPEC, both animals and humans can be reservoirs. ...

This review covers enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) infections, focusing on differences in their virulence factors and regulation. While Shiga-toxin expression from integrated bacteriophages sets EHEC apart from EPEC, EHEC infections often originate from asymptomatic carriage in ruminants whereas human EPEC are considered to be overt pathogens and m...

Virulence characteristics of diarrheal outbreak-associated Escherichia coli O55:NM, O126:NM, and O111:NM were examined. The E. coli O55:NM strains were atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), while the E. coli O126:NM and O111:NM strains should be classified as enteroaggregative E. coli (EAggEC). The contributions of EPEC and EAggEC to the human disease burden in Japan might be significantly ...

The pathophysiology of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) diarrhea remains uncertain. In vitro, EPEC stimulates a rapid increase in short-circuit current (Isc) across Caco-2 cell monolayers coincident with intimate attaching and effacing (A/E) bacterial adhesion. This study has examined the roles of specific EPEC virulence proteins in this Isc response. EPEC genes encoding EspA, EspB, and...

Initial adherence to host cells is the first step of the infection of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains. The importance of this step in the infection resides in the fact that (1) adherence is the first contact between bacteria and intestinal cells without which the other steps cannot occur and (...

The genetic relationship among the Escherichia coli pathotypes was investigated. We used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data for constructing a dendrogram of 73 strains of diarrheagenic E. coli. A phylogenetic tree encompassing 15 serotypes from different pathotypes was constructed using multilocus sequence typing data. Phylogram clusters were used for validating RAPD data on the clona...

We analyzed the prevalence of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) markers and common phenotypes in 2,164 E. coli isolates from 282 DEC-positive samples. Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) were very diverse and were not correlated with diarrhea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) estA and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) belonged to a few phenotypes and were signif...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) was found to exhibit a type III secretion-dependent, contact-mediated, hemolytic activity requiring the EspA, EspB, and EspD secreted proteins. EspB and EspD display homology to pore-forming molecules. Our data suggest a mechanism to explain the requirement for all three Esp proteins in the transfer of EPEC proteins, such as Tir, into target cells.