Seventy-one strains of Citrobacter were screened for iron scavenging mechanisms by biologic and chemical assays. Essentially all citrobacteria (70/71) were found to elaborate enterobactin-like siderophores by both biologic and chemical assays, however only c. koseri (C. diversus) was found to produce aerobactin. The concentration of ethylenediamine di(o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid) (EDDA) required...

Many pathogenic bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae use type III secretion systems to inject virulence proteins, termed "effectors," into the host cell cytosol. Although host-cellular activities of several effectors have been demonstrated, the function and host-targeted pathways of most of the effectors identified to date are largely undetermined. To gain insight into host proteins target...

Arylamine N-acetyltransferase activity has been described in various bacterial species. Bacterial N-acetyltransferases, including those from bacteria of the gut flora, may be involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics, thereby exerting physiopathological effects. We characterized these enzymes further by steady-state kinetics, time-dependent inhibition, and DNA hybridization in 40 species, mostl...

With a modification of Taylor's decarboxylation broth, histidine decarboxylase was detected in Enterobacter aerogenes, Morganella morganii, Raoultella ornithinolytica, and some strains of Citrobacter youngae and Raoultella planticola. This method provides a useful confirmatory test for identification of E. aerogenes strains.

In this issue of Cell, Desai et al. compare how dietary fiber affects the gut microbiota and susceptibility to disease. They find that a fiber-free diet promotes mucus-degrading bacteria and susceptibility to Citrobacter rodentium infection.

Vol. 28, No. 4, 2016 529 Received September 24, 2015, Revised January 14, 2016, Accepted for publication January 18, 2016 Corresponding author: Sung Ku Ahn, Department of Dermatology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, 20 Ilsan-ro, Wonju 26426, Korea. Tel: 82-33-741-0621, Fax: 82-33-748-2650, E-mail: [email protected] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the ...

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) translocate dozens of type III secretion system effectors, including the WxxxE effectors Map, EspM and EspT that activate Rho GTPases. While map, which is carried on the LEE pathogenicity island, is absolutely conserved among EPEC and EHEC strains, the prevalence of espM and espT is not known. Here we report the resu...