Abstract
Escherichia coli is the predominant facultative microorganism isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of man and is the most common enteric organism causing extra-intestinal infections in man, particularly of the urinary tract, peritoneum and blood1,2. It is likely that a consortium of virulence factors is responsible for the initiation and severity of extra-intestinal E. coli infections. Properties reported to be associated with the virulence of such infections include haemolysin production3, K1 antigen production4,5, various O antigens5 and Fe sequestration6. For example, it has long been recognized that the ability to lyse erythrocytes is a phenotype more common to E. coli strains isolated from infections than those found in normal faeces3,7–9. It is not clear whether the haemolysin per se is a virulence determinant. However, here we report that an isolated DNA sequence encoding haemolysin, added by recombinant DNA technology to avirulent non-haemolytic faecal isolates of E. coli, results in strains having enhanced virulence as measured in an experimental rat peritonitis model.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
National Nosocomial Infections Study Rep. (Center for Disease Control Annual Summary, 1974).
National Nosocomial Infections Study Rep. (Center for Disease Control Annual Summary, 1976).
Cooke, E. M. & Ewins, S. P. J. med. Microbiol. 8, 107–112 (1975).
Silver, R. et al. Nature 289, 696–698 (1981).
Smith, H. W. & Huggins, M. B. J. gen. Microbiol. 121, 387–400 (1980).
Williams, P. H. Infect. Immunity 26, 925–932 (1979).
Dudgeon, L. S., Wordley, E. & Bawtree, F. J. Hyg., Camb. 20, 137–149 (1921).
Minshew, B., Jorgensen, J., Swanstrum, M., Grootes-Reuvecamp, G. & Fakow, S. J. infect. Dis. 137, 648–654 (1978).
Vahlne, G. Acta path. microbiol. scand. Suppl. 62, 1–147 (1945).
Goebel, W. & Schrempf, H. J. Bact. 106, 311–317 (1971).
Goebel, W., Royer-Pokora, B., Lindenmaier, W. & Bojard, H. J. Bact. 118, 964–973 (1974).
Smith, H. W. & Halls, S. J. gen. Microbiol. 47, 153–161 (1967).
De La Cruz, F., Muller, D., Ortiz, J. & Goebel, W. J. Bact. 143, 825–833 (1980).
Hull, R., Hull, S., Minshew, B. & Falkow, S. Current Chemotherapy and Infectious Disease, Proc. of the 11th ICC and 19th ICAAC, 1283–1285 (1980).
Goebel, W., Noegel, A., Muller, D., Rdest, U. & Hughes, C. Abstr. of Molecular Biology, Pathogenicity and Ecology of Bacterial Plasmids, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (1981).
Collins, J. & Hohn, B. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 4242–4245 (1978).
Chang, A. C. & Cohen, S. N. J. Bact. 134, 1141–1156 (1978).
Robinson, M., Bennett, P., Falkow, S. & Dodd, H. Plasmid 3, 343–347 (1980).
Welch, R. A., Hull, R. & Falkow, S. (in preparation).
Lederberg, E. M. & Cohen, S. N. J. Bact. 119, 1072–1074 (1974).
Weinstein, W., Onderdonk, A., Bartlett, J. & Gorbach, S. Infect. Immunity 10, 1250–1255 (1974).
Noegel, A., Rdest, U., Springer, W. & Goebel, W. Molec. gen. Genet. 175, 343–350 (1979).
Reed, L. J. & Muench, H. Am. J. Hyg. 27, 493–501 (1938).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Welch, R., Dellinger, E., Minshew, B. et al. Haemolysin contributes to virulence of extra-intestinal E. coli infections. Nature 294, 665–667 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294665a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294665a0
This article is cited by
-
Immunological pathogenesis of Bovine E. coli infection in a model of C. elegans
BMC Microbiology (2022)
-
Screening and purification of nanobodies from E. coli culture supernatants using the hemolysin secretion system
Microbial Cell Factories (2019)
-
A new role for Zinc limitation in bacterial pathogenicity: modulation of α-hemolysin from uropathogenic Escherichia coli
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
A review on host–pathogen interactions: classification and prediction
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (2016)
-
Secretion systems in Gram-negative bacteria: structural and mechanistic insights
Nature Reviews Microbiology (2015)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.