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Haemolysin contributes to virulence of extra-intestinal E. coli infections

Nature volume 294, pages 665–667 (1981)Cite this article

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    Rod A. Welch & Stanley Falkow

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, 98105, USA

    E. Patchen Dellinger

  3. Department of Microbiology, USPHS Hospital, Seattle, Washington, 98114, USA

    Barbara Minshew

Authors
  1. Rod A. Welch
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  2. E. Patchen Dellinger
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  3. Barbara Minshew
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  4. Stanley Falkow
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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

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