Open AccessShigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli pathogenicity factors
Author(s) -
Parsot Claude
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/j.femsle.2005.08.046
Subject(s) - shigella , virulence , microbiology and biotechnology , shigellosis , shigella dysenteriae , shigella flexneri , biology , plasmid , shigella boydii , type three secretion system , escherichia coli , pathogenicity island , shigella sonnei , bacteria , secretion , enterobacteriaceae , dysentery , gene , genetics , biochemistry
Bacteria of Shigella spp. ( S. boydii , S. dysenteriae , S. flexneri and S. sonnei ) and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) are responsible for shigellosis in humans, a disease characterized by the destruction of the colonic mucosa that is induced upon bacterial invasion. Shigella spp. and EIEC strains contain a virulence plasmid of ∼220 kb that encodes determinants for entry into epithelial cells and dissemination from cell to cell. This review presents the current model on mechanisms of invasion of the colonic epithelium by these bacteria and focuses on their pathogenicity factors, particularly the virulence plasmid‐encoded type III secretion system.