2017/12/27 by Kenneth M. Peterson, Patrick Gellings · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Immunology and Microbiology · #Vibrio bacteria research studies #Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology #Aquaculture disease management and microbiota
paper · doi:10.1093/femspd/ftx126
openalex publication_date 2017/12/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative motile bacterium capable of causing fatal pandemic disease in humans via oral ingestion of contaminated water or food. Within the human intestine, the motile vibrios must evade the innate host defense mechanisms, penetrate the mucus layer covering the small intestine, adhere to and multiply on the surface of the microvilli and cause disease via the action of cholera toxin. The explosive diarrhea associated with V. cholerae intestinal colonization leads to dissemination of the vibrios back into the environment to complete this phase of the life cycle. The host phase of the vibrio life cycle is made possible via the concerted action of a signaling cascade that controls the synthesis of V. cholerae colonization determinants. These virulence proteins are coordinately synthesized in response to specific host signals that are still largely undefined. A more complete understanding of the molecular events involved in the V. cholerae recognition of intraintestinal signals and the subsequent transcriptional response will provide important information regarding how pathogenic bacteria establish infection and provide novel methods for treating and/or preventing bacterial infections such as Asiatic cholera. This review will summarize what is currently known in regard to host intraintestinal signals that inform the complex ToxR regulatory cascade in order to coordinate in a spatial and temporal fashion virulence protein synthesis within the human small intestine.