Strains of Escherichia coli previously implicated or proven to be causes of diarrhea were examined for production of a toxin similar to that of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 (Shiga). Organisms grown in an iron-depleted broth were lysed by pressure disruption followed by ultracentrifugation. Saline-dialyzed extracts were tested for cytotoxic effects on HeLa cells that were neutralizable with antis...

A toxin extracted from heat-inactivated, alkaline-treated Shigella flexneri 2a showed biological properties similar to those of Shigella dysenteria 1 toxin. The S, flexneri 2a toxin was lethal to mice, enterotoxic for ileal loops of rabbits, and cytotoxic for HeLa cells. A serological relationship between S. flexneri 2a and S. dysenteriae 1 toxin was shown with cross neutralization tests.

Background Diarrheal disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, especially in low- middle-income countries. High-throughput low-cost approaches to identify etiologic agents are needed guide public health mitigation. Nanoliter-qPCR (nl-qPCR) an attractive alternative more expensive methods yet nascent application without proof-of-concept among hospitalized patients. Methods ...

Hybridoma cell lines which produced monoclonal antibodies against cholera toxin were isolated. These cell lines were detected with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay screening procedure with purified cholera toxin or subunit A of cholera toxin. Seven cell lines were characterized with respect to their reactivity with cholera toxin subunits by Western blot analysis. Five clones produced antibo...

The bacterial pathogens enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Vibrio cholerae are major causes of diarrhea. ETEC causes diarrhea by production of the heat-labile toxin (LT) and heat-stable toxins (STh and STp), while V. cholerae produces cholera toxin (CT). In this study, we determined the occurrence and bacterial doses of the two pathogens and their respective toxin expression levels dir...

The heat-stable enterotoxin ST Ib produced by enterotoxigenic E. coli strains shares a sequence homology with the sea snail neurotoxin, conotoxin GI. Rabbit antisera were raised against synthetic analogs of these toxins and to a six-residue peptide representing the region common to both toxins. Results from enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays indicate that the homologous region of both toxins re...

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) is a well-known entomopathogen. The pesticidal activity of this organism resides primarily in the proteinaceous, crystalline inclusion bodies (i.e. the Cry proteins). However, roles for additional principles such as the components of the spores, the heat-stable exotoxins (beta-exotoxins), phospholipases, proteases and chitinases have been implicated in the overall ...

The enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strain Ec2173, causing post weaning diarrhoea in swine, harbours six plasmids ranging from 13 to 200 kb in size. The heat stable toxin genes sta, stb and a tetracycline resistance gene were located on a self conjugative 120-kb plasmid, called pTC. In the cloned ColE1 type origin of replication of pTC a deletion was detected compared to other ColE1 rep...