Characterisation of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli lacking classical virulence markers

肠道细菌大肠杆菌的一些肠道感染可导致严重的，通常是致命的肾脏疾病，称为溶血性尿毒综合征。迅速发现感染对该病的诊断和治疗非常重要。目前鉴定这种致病性大肠杆菌的方法是不充分的，并且不能解释所有可能导致严重疾病的细菌类型。儿童特别容易感染这种危及生命的大肠杆菌，通常通过食用受污染的食物或水而感染。这种微生物目前是一个全球性的食品安全问题，这种细菌在被牛粪便污染的碎牛肉产品和水或蔬菜中尤其普遍。在这项研究中，我们的目的是鉴定新的细菌基因和蛋白质，可用于改进现有的检测和诊断方法。人们对这种致命的E。大肠杆菌在肠道中定植，然而，一小群但重要的这些有机体不携带已知的定植因子。我们的目标是鉴定这些非经典大肠杆菌菌株中的细菌蛋白，这些蛋白是细菌附着在宿主上所需要的。确定这些细菌如何与宿主相互作用可能有助于我们开发出检测和诊断这种危及生命的感染的改进方法。

Some intestinal infections with the intestinal bacterium, E. coli, can result in severe, often fatal, kidney disease called the haemolytic uraemic syndrome. It is important for the diagnosis and treatment of this condition that the infections are detected swiftly. Current means of identifying this virulent form of E. coli are inadequate and do not account for all types of the bacteria that can cause severe disease. Children are particularly susceptible to life threatening infections with this type of E.coli and usually acquire the infection by consuming contaminated food or water. This organism is currently a global food safety problem and the bacteria are especially prevalent in ground beef products and water or vegetables that have been contaminated with cattle faeces. In this study we aim to identify new bacterial genes and proteins that may be used to improve current means of detecting and diagnosing this kind of E.coli. A great deal is known about the way in which the classical strains of this virulent E .coli colonise the intestine however a small but significant group of these organisms do not carry known colonisation factors. We aim to identify bacterial proteins in these non-classical strains of E.coli which are needed for attachment of the bacteria to the host. Identifying how these bacteria interact with the host may help us to develop improved means of detecting and diagnosing this life-threatening infection.