We report the first Shiga toxin 2-producing Acinetobacter haemolyticus strain that was isolated from the feces of a 3-month-old infant with bloody diarrhea. Usual enteropathogenic bacteria were not detected. This finding suggests that any Shiga toxin-producing microorganism capable of colonizing the human gut may have the potential to cause illness.

When 3,972 ground beef enrichments with 6 confirmed to contain a non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing intimin-positive Escherichia coli isolate were tested for Shiga toxin, intimin, and O group (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145) genes, 183 potential positives and only 2 of the 6 confirmed positives were identified.

Lateral variation of the in-plane orientation of lipids in a bilayer is referred to as texture. The influence of the protein Shiga toxin on orientational membrane texture was studied in phosphatidylcholine lipid bilayers using polarization two-photon fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy. A content of 1% of glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) receptor lipids in a bilayer...

Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli may damage the central nervous system before or concomitantly to manifested hemolytic-uremic syndrome symptoms. The cerebellum is frequently damaged during this syndrome, however, the deleterious effects of Shiga toxin 2 has never been integrally reported by ultrastructural, physiological and behavioral means. The aim of this study was to determine the cer...

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli have been associated with food-borne illnesses. Pasteurization is used to inhibit microbial growth in milk, and an open question is whether milk pasteurization inactivates Shiga toxins. To answer this question we measured Shiga toxin's inhibition effect on Vero cell dehydrogenase activity and protein synthesis. Our data demonstrate that Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2...

During a large outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli illness associated with an agricultural show in Australia, we used whole-genome sequencing to detect an IS1203v insertion in the Shiga toxin 2c subunit A gene of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. Our study showed that clinical illness was mild, and hemolytic uremic syndrome was not detected.

We surveyed laboratories in Washington State, USA, and found that increased use of Shiga toxin assays correlated with increased reported incidence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections during 2005-2010. Despite increased assay use, only half of processed stool specimens underwent Shiga toxin testing during 2010, suggesting substantial underdetection of non-O157 S...

In this review, we highlight recent work that has increased our understanding of the production and distribution of Shiga toxin in the environment. Specifically, we review studies that offer an expanded view of environmental reservoirs for Shiga toxin producing microbes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We then relate the abundance of Shiga toxin in the environment to work that demonstrate...

Infection by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli causes hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), acute renal failure, and also central nervous system complications in around 30% of the children affected. Besides, neurological deficits are one of the most unrepairable and untreatable outcomes of HUS. Study of the striatum is relevant because basal ganglia are one of the brain are...

BACKGROUND Virulence genes can spread among commensal bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. The bacterium with novel virulence factors may pose a severe threat to public health because of the absence of a management system unlike known pathogens. Especially, when a pathogenic bacterium acquires a new kind of virulence genes, it tends to exhibit stronger virulence. In this study, we analyze...