There is considerable diversity among Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) bacteria, and only a subset of these organisms are thought to be human pathogens. The characteristics that distinguish STEC bacteria that give rise to human disease are not well understood. Stxs, the principal virulence determinants of STEC, are thought to account for hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe clinical consequence of STEC infection. Stxs are typically bacteriophage encoded, and their production has been shown to be enhanced by prophage-inducing agents such as mitomycin C in a limited number of clinical STEC isolates. Low iron concentrations also enhance Stx production by some clinical isolates; however, little is known regarding whether and to what extent these stimuli regulate Stx production by STEC associated with cattle, the principal environmental reservoir of STEC. In this study, we investigated whether toxin production differed between HUS- and bovine-associated STEC strains. Basal production of Stx by HUS-associated STEC exceeded that of bovine-associated STEC. In addition, following mitomycin C treatment, Stx2 production by HUS-associated STEC was significantly greater than that by bovine-associated STEC. Unexpectedly, mitomycin C treatment had a minimal effect on Stx1 production by both HUS- and bovine-associated STEC. However, Stx1 production was induced by growth in low-iron medium, and induction was more marked for HUS-associated STEC than for bovine-associated STEC. These observations reveal that disease-associated and bovine-associated STEC bacteria differ in their basal and inducible Stx production characteristics.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 June 2012.
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#6,046,637
of 27,557,847 outputs
Outputs from Applied and Environmental Microbiology
#4,765
of 19,497 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#18,194
of 152,195 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Applied and Environmental Microbiology
#35
of 136 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 27,557,847 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 74th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 19,497 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 136 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 55% of its contemporaries.
