Characterisation of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli lacking classical virulence markers

一些肠道感染的肠道细菌，E。大肠杆菌，可导致严重的，往往是致命的，肾脏疾病称为溶血性尿毒综合征。对于这种疾病的诊断和治疗，重要的是迅速发现感染。目前鉴定这种毒性形式的E.大肠杆菌是不够的，并没有考虑到所有类型的细菌，可以导致严重的疾病。儿童特别容易受到这种类型的大肠杆菌的威胁生命的感染，通常通过食用受污染的食物或水获得感染。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特别普遍。在这项研究中，我们的目标是确定新的细菌基因和蛋白质，可用于改善目前的手段检测和诊断这种大肠杆菌。关于这种毒性大肠杆菌的经典菌株在肠道中定植的方式，人们已经知道了很多，但是这些生物体中的一小部分但重要的一组并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质，这些蛋白质是细菌附着到宿主所需的。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.