Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i>
Shiga toxin-producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> (STEC) is an important pathogen that can cause asymptomatic infections, diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Shiga toxins (Stxs) are the major virulence factors encoded by prophag...
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2025-03-01
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| author | Xinxia Sui Shuyun Wang Xi Yang Peihua Zhang Hui Sun Xiangning Bai Yanwen Xiong |
| author_facet | Xinxia Sui Shuyun Wang Xi Yang Peihua Zhang Hui Sun Xiangning Bai Yanwen Xiong |
| author_sort | Xinxia Sui |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Shiga toxin-producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> (STEC) is an important pathogen that can cause asymptomatic infections, diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Shiga toxins (Stxs) are the major virulence factors encoded by prophages, which play a crucial role in STEC pathogenesis and evolution. In this study, seven Stx phages were obtained from STEC isolates derived from four asymptomatic food handlers, two diarrheal patients, and one outbreak-related HUS case in China. These phages exhibited three morphologies: an icosahedral head with either a short or a long tail, and an elongated head with a long tail. Of these seven phages, three were sequenced; two showed a complete identity with their respective prophage sequences, while phage phiXuzhou21-Stx2a lacked a 6011 bp region-encoding integrase, excisionase, and hypothetical proteins. Comparative genome analysis revealed that the induced seven phages primarily varied in their regulatory regions, whereas the short-tailed phages showed high similarity in their morphogenesis-related regions. In addition, five of the seven phages demonstrated the ability to convert non-pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> strains into Stx-producing transduced strains. Under inducing conditions, Stx expression levels were significantly increased in these transduced strains. These findings underscore the diversity and adaptability of Stx phages and emphasize the importance of understanding their genetic and molecular interactions with host bacteria. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-835dd949fb634ae0a6304fa0ed5bf9f6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-835dd949fb634ae0a6304fa0ed5bf9f62025-08-20T03:13:32ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-03-0113478310.3390/microorganisms13040783Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i>Xinxia Sui0Shuyun Wang1Xi Yang2Peihua Zhang3Hui Sun4Xiangning Bai5Yanwen Xiong6National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, ChinaClinical Laboratory, Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250022, ChinaNational Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, ChinaNational Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, ChinaNational Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, ChinaNational Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, ChinaNational Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, ChinaShiga toxin-producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> (STEC) is an important pathogen that can cause asymptomatic infections, diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Shiga toxins (Stxs) are the major virulence factors encoded by prophages, which play a crucial role in STEC pathogenesis and evolution. In this study, seven Stx phages were obtained from STEC isolates derived from four asymptomatic food handlers, two diarrheal patients, and one outbreak-related HUS case in China. These phages exhibited three morphologies: an icosahedral head with either a short or a long tail, and an elongated head with a long tail. Of these seven phages, three were sequenced; two showed a complete identity with their respective prophage sequences, while phage phiXuzhou21-Stx2a lacked a 6011 bp region-encoding integrase, excisionase, and hypothetical proteins. Comparative genome analysis revealed that the induced seven phages primarily varied in their regulatory regions, whereas the short-tailed phages showed high similarity in their morphogenesis-related regions. In addition, five of the seven phages demonstrated the ability to convert non-pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> strains into Stx-producing transduced strains. Under inducing conditions, Stx expression levels were significantly increased in these transduced strains. These findings underscore the diversity and adaptability of Stx phages and emphasize the importance of understanding their genetic and molecular interactions with host bacteria.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/783<i>Escherichia coli</i>Shiga toxin (Stx)Stx phagesphage morphologyphage genome |
| spellingShingle | Xinxia Sui Shuyun Wang Xi Yang Peihua Zhang Hui Sun Xiangning Bai Yanwen Xiong Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> Microorganisms <i>Escherichia coli</i> Shiga toxin (Stx) Stx phages phage morphology phage genome |
| title | Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| title_full | Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| title_short | Characterization of Seven Shiga Toxin Phages Induced from Human-Derived Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| title_sort | characterization of seven shiga toxin phages induced from human derived shiga toxin producing i escherichia coli i |
| topic | <i>Escherichia coli</i> Shiga toxin (Stx) Stx phages phage morphology phage genome |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/783 |
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