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Microorganisms
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Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia coli and the Animal Host
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Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia coli and the Animal Host

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 11589

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Indira Kudva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Safety Enteric Pathogens Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ames, IA 50010, USA
Interests: Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC); (i) STEC interactions with the bovine gastrointestinal cells, especially those at the recto-anal junction (RAJ); (ii) STEC factors that promote its survival in the bovine rumen and persistence at the RAJ; (iii) adherence mechanisms deployed by STEC in strain- and host-dependent manner; (iv) development of rational subunit vaccines and vaccine alternatives that target STEC in cattle; and (v) development of diagnostic assays to study STEC adherence and to identify STEC-colonized cattle
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections in humans result in either asymptomatic carriage or development of disease symptoms such as watery to bloody diarrhea, that may progress to debilitating secondary sequelae. STEC infections have been linked to the consumption of feces-contaminated food and water, as also hand-to-mouth transmission especially after contact with infected animals. Cattle are the primary STEC reservoirs although, other ruminants such as sheep, goats, deer, bison, and water buffalo can also act as reservoirs. Additional transient hosts contribute to STEC persistence in the environment as well. While most of these animal hosts carry STEC asymptomatically, infection with some serotypes can result in disease, in a host-dependent manner. Overall, animals in the agri-food chain play an important role in STEC dissemination, and effective control measures are needed to prevent farm to fork spread of these human pathogens. Hence, several studies are aimed at understanding STEC ecology in the context of the animal host and utilizing insights gained toward the development of appropriate control and diagnostic measures. These evaluations are conducted under natural and experimental conditions, with animal models of colonization being used to address the latter. Animal models of infection/disease are also used as surrogates for human illness to gain a better understanding of STEC pathogenesis.

Hence, the aim of this Special Issue is to address: (i) Animal-STEC interactions (ii) Animal models of STEC colonization and/or pathogenicity (iii) STEC control and/or diagnosis in animals and (iv) Alternatives to animal models. As a Guest Editor of the Special Issue, I invite you to submit research articles, review articles, and short communications related to these topics.

Dr. Indira Kudva
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • E. coli
  • STEC
  • animal-host
  • interaction
  • colonization
  • pathogenicity
  • diagnosis
  • prevention
  • therapy
  • alternatives

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1359 KiB  
Article
Development of ELISA Using Phage-Displayed Stx2 Mini-Body for Detection of STEC Antigen in Field Farming Pig Samples
by Jin Hur, Ho-Kyoung Jung, Jung-Ho Park, Anoth Maharjan and Seung-Won Park
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020382 - 9 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1051
Abstract
Porcine edema disease (ED), which causes enormous economic losses in pig farms, is caused by Shiga toxin type 2e (Stx2e) Escherichia coli (STEC), which frequently occurs in young piglets. In this study, we aimed to express a fused Stx2e peptide on a phage [...] Read more.
Porcine edema disease (ED), which causes enormous economic losses in pig farms, is caused by Shiga toxin type 2e (Stx2e) Escherichia coli (STEC), which frequently occurs in young piglets. In this study, we aimed to express a fused Stx2e peptide on a phage surface to generate an innovative sandwich ELISA for the detection of STEC antigen in field pig farming samples. The amino acid sequences at positions 241–319 were selected for capture antibody (T1D2) production. T1D2 was selected after the third round of biopanning, and it showed a high yield with no major impurities. T1D2-ELISA can detect recombinant modified Stx2e antigen, and the detection limit of the antigen was approximately below 20 pg/mL. The sensitivity of T1D2-ELISA was determined using five different stool samples, with a total of 25 stool samples. Positive Stx2e antigen samples were detected only in one of the 25 samples using T1D2-ELISA. The ELISA values of positive stool samples were >300 pg and <600 pg. In conclusion, we developed an innovative ELISA for the detection of STEC antigens in field pig farming samples. It can also be used to easily detect STEC antigens in porcine stool samples. We anticipate that our novel T1D2-ELISA method will enable the effective monitoring of STEC antigen content during industrial vaccine production. By leveraging this approach, we aimed to enhance production efficiency and ensure high-quality vaccines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia coli and the Animal Host)
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16 pages, 3364 KiB  
Article
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Bovine Rectoanal Junction Cells and Human Colonic Epithelial Cells during Initial Adherence
by Lekshmi K. Edison, Indira T. Kudva and Subhashinie Kariyawasam
Microorganisms 2023, 11(10), 2562; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11102562 - 15 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1997
Abstract
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are notorious foodborne pathogens, capable of causing severe diarrhea and life-threatening complications in humans. Cattle, acting as both primary reservoirs and asymptomatic carriers of STEC, predominantly harbor the pathogen in their rectoanal junction (RAJ), facilitating its transmission to [...] Read more.
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are notorious foodborne pathogens, capable of causing severe diarrhea and life-threatening complications in humans. Cattle, acting as both primary reservoirs and asymptomatic carriers of STEC, predominantly harbor the pathogen in their rectoanal junction (RAJ), facilitating its transmission to humans through contaminated food sources. Despite the central role of cattle in STEC transmission, the molecular mechanisms governing STEC’s adaptation in the RAJ of the asymptomatic reservoir host and its subsequent infection of human colonic epithelial cells, resulting in diarrhea, remain largely unexplored. This study aims to uncover these complicated dynamics by focusing on the STEC O157:H7 serotype within two distinct host environments, bovine RAJ cells and human colonic epithelial cells, during initial colonization. We employed comparative transcriptomics analysis to investigate differential gene expression profiles of STEC O157:H7 during interactions with these cell types. STEC O157:H7 was cultured either with bovine RAJ cells or the human colonic epithelial cell line CCD CoN 841 to simulate STEC-epithelial cell interactions within these two host species. High-throughput RNA sequencing revealed 829 and 1939 bacterial genes expressed in RAJ and CCD CoN 841, respectively. After gene filtering, 221 E. coli O157:H7 genes were upregulated during initial adherence to CCD CoN cells and 436 with RAJ cells. Furthermore, 22 genes were uniquely expressed with human cells and 155 genes with bovine cells. Our findings revealed distinct expression patterns of STEC O157:H7 genes involved in virulence, including adherence, metal iron homeostasis, and stress response during its initial adherence (i.e., six hours post-infection) to bovine RAJ cells, as opposed to human colonic epithelial cells. Additionally, the comparative analysis highlighted the potential role of some genes in host adaptation and tissue-specific pathogenicity. These findings shed new light on the potential mechanisms of STEC O157:H7 contributing to colonize the intestinal epithelium during the first six hours of infection, leading to survival and persistence in the bovine reservoir and causing disease in humans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia coli and the Animal Host)
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24 pages, 15715 KiB  
Article
Bovine Rectoanal Junction In Vitro Organ Culture Model System to Study Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Adherence
by Indira T. Kudva, Erika N. Biernbaum, Eric D. Cassmann and Mitchell V. Palmer
Microorganisms 2023, 11(5), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11051289 - 15 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2364
Abstract
Studies evaluating the interactions between Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) and the bovine recto–anal junction (RAJ) have been limited to either in vitro analyses of bacteria, cells, or nucleic acids at the RAJ, providing limited information. Alternatively, expensive in vivo studies in [...] Read more.
Studies evaluating the interactions between Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) and the bovine recto–anal junction (RAJ) have been limited to either in vitro analyses of bacteria, cells, or nucleic acids at the RAJ, providing limited information. Alternatively, expensive in vivo studies in animals have been conducted. Therefore, our objective was to develop a comprehensive in vitro organ culture system of the RAJ (RAJ-IVOC) that accurately represents all cell types present in the RAJ. This system would enable studies that yield results similar to those observed in vivo. Pieces of RAJ tissue, obtained from unrelated cattle necropsies, were assembled and subjected to various tests in order to determine the optimal conditions for assaying bacterial adherence in a viable IVOC. O157 strain EDL933 and E. coli K12 with known adherence differences were used to standardize the RAJ-IVOC adherence assay. Tissue integrity was assessed using cell viability, structural cell markers, and histopathology, while the adherence of bacteria was evaluated via microscopy and culture methods. DNA fingerprinting verified the recovered bacteria against the inoculum. When the RAJ-IVOC was assembled in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium, maintained at a temperature of 39 °C with 5% CO2 and gentle shaking for a duration of 3–4 h, it successfully preserved tissue integrity and reproduced the expected adherence phenotype of the bacteria being tested. The RAJ-IVOC model system provides a convenient method to pre-screen multiple bacteria-RAJ interactions prior to in vivo experiments, thereby reducing animal usage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia coli and the Animal Host)
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Review

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26 pages, 711 KiB  
Review
A Comprehensive Review on Shiga Toxin Subtypes and Their Niche-Related Distribution Characteristics in Shiga-Toxin-Producing E. coli and Other Bacterial Hosts
by Xuan Wang, Daniel Yu, Linda Chui, Tiantian Zhou, Yu Feng, Yuhao Cao and Shuai Zhi
Microorganisms 2024, 12(4), 687; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12040687 - 28 Mar 2024
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5064
Abstract
Shiga toxin (Stx), the main virulence factor of Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), was first discovered in Shigella dysenteriae strains. While several other bacterial species have since been reported to produce Stx, STEC poses the most significant risk to human health due to its [...] Read more.
Shiga toxin (Stx), the main virulence factor of Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), was first discovered in Shigella dysenteriae strains. While several other bacterial species have since been reported to produce Stx, STEC poses the most significant risk to human health due to its widespread prevalence across various animal hosts that have close contact with human populations. Based on its biochemical and molecular characteristics, Shiga toxin can be grouped into two types, Stx1 and Stx2, among which a variety of variants and subtypes have been identified in various bacteria and host species. Interestingly, the different Stx subtypes appear to vary in their host distribution characteristics and in the severity of diseases that they are associated with. As such, this review provides a comprehensive overview on the bacterial species that have been recorded to possess stx genes to date, with a specific focus on the various Stx subtype variants discovered in STEC, their prevalence in certain host species, and their disease-related characteristics. This review provides a better understanding of the Stx subtypes and highlights the need for rapid and accurate approaches to toxin subtyping for the proper evaluation of the health risks associated with Shiga-toxin-related bacterial food contamination and human infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shiga-Toxin Producing Escherichia coli and the Animal Host)
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