Exposure of macrophages to bacteria or LPS mediates activation of signaling pathways that induce expression of self defense-related genes. Pathogenic Yersinia species impair activation of transcription factor NF-kappaB and trigger apoptosis in macrophages. In this study, we dissected the mechanism of apoptosis induction by Yersinia. Selectively, Yersinia enterocolitica strains producing the eff...

Pathogenic bacteria obtain the iron necessary for survival by releasing an iron chelator, termed a siderophore, and retrieving the iron-siderophore complex via a cell surface siderophore receptor. We have exploited the high affinity of Yersinia enterocolitica for its siderophore, deferoxamine, to develop a rapid method for capture and identification of Yersinia. In this methodology, a deferoxam...

Enteropathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis are both etiological agents for intestinal infection known as yersiniosis, but their epidemiology and ecology bear many differences. Swine are the only known reservoir for Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 strains, which are the most common cause of human disease, while Y. pseudotuberculosis has been isolated from a variety of sourc...

Bacteria have evolved a number of mechanisms for coping with stress and adapting to changing environmental conditions. Many bacteria produce small cold shock proteins (Csp) as a response to rapid temperature downshift (cold shock). During cold shock, the cell membrane fluidity and enzyme activity decrease, and the efficiency of transcription and translation is reduced due to stabilization of nu...

Yersinia pestis grown with physiologic glucose increased cell autoaggregation and deposition of extracellular material, including membrane vesicles. Membranes were characterized, and glucose had significant effects on protein, lipid, and carbohydrate profiles. These effects were independent of temperature and the biofilm-related locus pgm and were not observed in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

Extracellular Yersinia disables the immune system of its host by injecting effector Yop proteins into host cells. We show that a Yersinia enterocolitica nonpolar lcrG mutant is severely impaired in the translocation of YopE, YopH, YopM, YpkA/YopO, and YopP into eukaryotic cells. LcrG is thus required for efficient internalization of all the known Yop effectors.

In this case-control study of Yersinia enterocolitica infections among black infants, chitterling preparation was significantly associated with illness (p<0.001). Of 13 samples of chitterlings tested, 2 were positive for Yersinia intermedia and 5 for Salmonella. Decontamination of chitterlings before sale with methods such as irradiation should be strongly considered.

YopM is a leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-containing effector in several Yersinia species, including Yersinia pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis. Different Yersinia strains encode distinct YopM isoforms with variable numbers of LRRs but conserved C-terminal tails. A 15-LRR isoform in Y. pseudotuberculosis YPIII was recently shown to bind and inhibit caspase-1 via a YLTD motif in LRR 10, and attenuation...

". .. the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good;. .. it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city. " Albert Camus, The Plague. Few other pathogens have caused as much devastation in human history as Yersinia pe...