Contribution of Shigella and Escherichia coli pathogenicity islands to diarrhoeal disease

在发展中国家，由志贺氏菌和大肠杆菌感染引起的腹泻是疾病和死亡的主要原因，特别是在儿童中。即使在澳大利亚，这些可能由食物传播的细菌偶尔也会导致危及生命的感染。在这项研究中，我们将调查最近获得的这些细菌的外来DNA的大片段的肠道疾病的贡献。我们将详细研究其中的几个因素，确定新的毒力决定因素和毒素的过程中。我们还将探索这些讨厌的DNA包在细菌之间转移的方式，并研究它们产生新的，更具毒性的细菌菌株的潜力。这项研究特别重要，因为它将导致更好地了解细菌如何引起疾病，并可能有助于指导我们制定更好的预防细菌性腹泻的策略。具体来说，在表征大簇毒力基因方面所做的工作将使我们能够构建更安全的细菌疫苗，我们预计，在未来，这些知识将有助于开发针对这些有害细菌的新的和更好的诊断和治疗药物。

Diarrhoea resulting from infection with Shigella and Escherichia coli is a major cause of sickness and death in the developing world, especially in children. Even in Australia, these bacteria, which may be food borne, are occasionally responsible for life threatening infections. In this study, we will investigate the contribution to diarrhoeal disease of large fragments of foreign DNA which have been recently acquired by these bacteria. We will characterise several of these elements in detail, identifying novel virulence determinants and toxins in the process. We will also explore the means by which these packages of nasty DNA transfer between bacteria and investigate their potential to give rise to new, more virulent strains of bacteria. This study is particularly significant because it will lead to an improved understanding of how bacteria cause disease and may help to guide us in developing better strategies for the prevention of bacterial diarrhoea. Specifically, the work done on characterising large clusters of virulence genes will allow us to construct safer bacterial vaccines and we expect that in the future this knowledge will contribute to the development of new and better diagnostic and therapeutic agents against these harmful bacteria.