Involvement of PatE, a prophage-encoded AraC-like regulator, in the transcriptional activation of acid resistance pathways of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli strain EDL933

Abstract

Enterohemorrhagic escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:h7 is a lethal human intestinal pathogen that causes hemorrhagic colitis and the hemolytic-uremic syndrome. EHEC is transmitted by the fecal-oral route and has a lower infectious dose than most other enteric bacterial pathogens in that fewer than 100 CFU are able to cause disease. This low infectious dose has been attributed to the ability of EHEC to survive in the acidic environment of the human stomach. In silico analysis of the genome of EHEC O157:H7 strain EDL933 revealed a gene, patE, for a putative AraC-like regulatory protein within the prophage island, CP-933H. Transcriptional analysis in E. coli showed that the expression of patE is ind..