Open AccessAdhesion properties of toxigenic corynebacteria
Author(s) -
Lisa Ott
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
aims microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.565
H-Index - 6
ISSN - 2471-1888
DOI - 10.3934/microbiol.2018.1.85
Subject(s) - corynebacterium diphtheriae , microbiology and biotechnology , corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis , biology , corynebacterium , diphtheria , diphtheria toxin , toxin , genetics , bacteria , virology , vaccination
Corynebacterium diphtheriae , Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and Corynebacterium ulcerans share one distinctive feature: they are all putative carriers of the diphtheria toxin (DT), encoded by a β-corynephage integrated into the genome. Due to its medical relevance, C. diphtheriae may be the most highly investigated species of the genus Corynebacterium . Nevertheless, systemic infections caused by C. ulcerans are increasingly being reported indicating that this specie s is an emerging pathogen today. C. diphtheriae , C. pseudotuberculosis and C. ulcerans are able to colonize different types of epithelial cells in a strain-specific manner, independent of the presence of the tox gene. However, the molecular mechanisms contributing to host colonization are barely understood. This review gives a comprehensive update of recent data concerning the adhesion properties of toxigenic corynebacteria, demonstrating that adhesion is a multi-factorial process.