Shiga Toxins

Dear Colleagues,

Shiga toxins are the main virulence factor of a group of Shiga toxin-encoding E. coli (STEC) strains that cause severe human diseases, such as hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Shiga toxin is implicated in over 10,000 cases of human illness annually in the United States alone, and infection with STEC carries a mortality rate as high as 10%. Shiga toxin intoxication is the number one cause of acute renal failure in children. Alarmingly, the incidence of Shiga toxin-related illness is increasing; in the two decades following its emergence, outbreaks of disease caused by STEC increased >20-fold. In addition to contaminated food, STEC outbreaks are increasingly associated with environmental contamination of water. Therefore, factors that impact the environmental survival of STEC clearly have a role in regulating the transmission of these pathogens to humans.

The Shiga toxin family is divided into several toxin subtypes, each of which is apparently differentially involved in causing human disease. Shiga toxins are encoded by a family of bacteriophage that are related to the well-characterized nontoxic coliphage λ. A recent expansion in the numbers of available STEC genome sequences and Shiga toxin encoding phages indicate that both the families of Stx-encoding phage and the bacteria that harbor them are large and display a much higher diversity than previously thought. Phage diversity may play an important role in the dissemination of Shiga-toxin genes and the emergence of new STEC strains, but also in the regulation of Shiga toxin production.

Prof. Dr. Gerald B. Koudelka
Dr. Steven A Mauro
Collection Editor

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"A similar special issue Shiga Toxins can be found at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/toxins/special_issues/shiga