New pathways for controlling Shiga toxin expression and virulence in enterohaemorrhagic E. coli

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Shiga toxigenic E. coli are significant human pathogens that cause disease ranging from bloody diarrhoea to renal failure. The severity of disease is correlated with the amount of Shiga toxin expressed, which is dependent on unknown factors within the toxin-encoding bacteriophage. We have recently found that these bacteriophages contain numerous RNA regulators that may modulate toxin expression. This proposal seeks to understand how these RNAs control Shiga toxin expression and disease severity.