Hybridization probes derived from the A and B subunit genes of the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) of Escherichia coli were used to analyze DNA from Vibrio cholera strain 569B for cholera toxin gene sequences. Southern blot analysis indicated that the cholera toxin A and B subunit genes were each duplicated in the strain. One of the two toxin subunit gene pairs was cloned as a 5.1-kilobase DNA ins...

Blooms of cyanobacteria are frequent in Brazilian water reservoirs used for drinking water. The warning the presence potential toxin-producing is typically based on time-consuming microscopy, rather than specific molecular detection toxic genes cyanobacteria. In this study, we developed a quantitative PCR assay producing neurotoxin saxitoxin (STX). targets sxtA gene sxt cluster. Potential and d...

Fresh meat, poultry, and seafood purchased from Seattle area grocery stores were investigated for the presence of Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli by using DNA probes for Shiga-like toxin (SLT) genes I and II. Of the 294 food samples tested, 17% had colonies with sequence homology to SLT I and/or SLT II genes.

Introduction: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) including enteropathogenic (EPEC), enteroaggregative (EAEC), enterotoxigenic (ETEC), and shiga toxin producing E. coli are among the most common agents of diarrhea. There are various classes of iron uptake receptors, but there is not much data on the presence of these iron receptors in DEC isolates. The present study aimed to evaluate the prese...

We compared 30-day case-fatality rates for patients infected with Clostridium difficile possessing genes for toxins A and B without binary toxin (n = 212) with rates for patients infected with C. difficile possessing genes for A, B, and binary toxin. The latter group comprised patients infected with strains of PCR ribotype 027 (CD027, n = 193) or non-027 (CD non-027, n = 72). Patients with bina...

LaeA and VeA coordinate secondary metabolism and differentiation in response to light signals in Aspergillus spp. Their orthologs, ChLae1 and ChVel1, were identified in the maize pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus, known to produce a wealth of secondary metabolites, including the host selective toxin, T-toxin. Produced by race T, T-toxin promotes high virulence to maize carrying Texas male st...