A Brief Overview of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Its Plasmid O157

Ji Youn  Lim; JangWon  Yoon; Carolyn J.  Hovde

doi:10.4014/jmb.0908.08007

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A Brief Overview of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Its Plasmid O157

Ji Youn Lim ¹, JangWon Yoon ² and Carolyn J. Hovde ^1*

¹Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA, ²Advanced Human Resource and Research Group for Medical Science (BK21), Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul 143-701, Korea

Received: August 10, 2009; Accepted: September 7, 2009

J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2010; 20(1): 5-14

Published January 28, 2010 https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.0908.08007

Abstract

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major food-borne pathogen causing severe disease in humans worldwide. Healthy cattle are a reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 and bovine food products and fresh produce contaminated with bovine waste are the most common sources for disease outbreaks in the United States. E. coli O157:H7 also survives well in the environment. The ability to cause human disease, colonize the bovine gastrointestinal tract, and survive in the environment, requires that E. coli O157:H7 adapt to a wide variety of conditions. Three major virulence factors of E. coli O157:H7 have been identified including Shiga toxins, a pathogenicity island called the locus of enterocyte effacement, and an F-like plasmid, pO157. Among these virulence factors, the role of the pO157 is least understood. This review provides a board overview of E. coli O157:H7 with an emphasis on the pO157.

Keywords

E. coli O157:H7, pO157

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Review

J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2010; 20(1): 5-14

Published online January 28, 2010 https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.0908.08007

A Brief Overview of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Its Plasmid O157

Ji Youn Lim ¹, JangWon Yoon ² and Carolyn J. Hovde ^1*

¹Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA, ²Advanced Human Resource and Research Group for Medical Science (BK21), Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul 143-701, Korea

Received: August 10, 2009; Accepted: September 7, 2009

Abstract

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major food-borne pathogen causing severe disease in humans worldwide. Healthy cattle are a reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 and bovine food products and fresh produce contaminated with bovine waste are the most common sources for disease outbreaks in the United States. E. coli O157:H7 also survives well in the environment. The ability to cause human disease, colonize the bovine gastrointestinal tract, and survive in the environment, requires that E. coli O157:H7 adapt to a wide variety of conditions. Three major virulence factors of E. coli O157:H7 have been identified including Shiga toxins, a pathogenicity island called the locus of enterocyte effacement, and an F-like plasmid, pO157. Among these virulence factors, the role of the pO157 is least understood. This review provides a board overview of E. coli O157:H7 with an emphasis on the pO157.

Keywords: E. coli O157:H7, pO157