In this study, 18 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates harboring staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type XI, recovered in the Dutch-German Euregio, were characterized by DNA microarrays. In contrast to previous data, we found two MRSA strains of different clonal lineages possessing SCCmec XI that carried important virulence determinants. The worrisome emergen...

Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae cause cholera, a severe diarrheal disease responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Two determinants, cholera enterotoxin (CT) and toxin coregulated pilus (TCP) are critical factors responsible for this organism's virulence. The genes for these virulence determinants belong to a network of genes (the ToxR regulon) whose expression is modulated by t...

AIMS Isolate and characterize water enterococci from the South Nation River drainage basin, an area dominated by agriculture. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 1558 enterococci were isolated from 204 water samples from the South Nation River obtained over a 3-year period. PCR was used to identify isolates to the species level and characterize them for carriage of 12 virulence determinants. Antib...

Secretion of proteins by the general secretory pathway (GSP) is a two-step process requiring the Sec translocase in the inner membrane and a separate substrate-specific secretion apparatus for translocation across the outer membrane. Gram-negative bacteria with pathogenic potential use the GSP to deliver virulence factors into the extracellular environment for interaction with the host. Well-st...

We have used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to derive a restriction map of the chromosome of Bordetella pertussis for the enzymes XbaI, SpeI, PacI, and PmeI, which cleave 25, 16, 2, and 1 times, respectively. The apparent size of the genome is 3,750 kb. The positions of genes for major virulence determinants in the vir regulon and of some housekeeping genes were determined. Apart from the pre...

Bacterial pathogens must execute a prodigious array of complex functions in order to survive, multiply, and disseminate within mammalian hosts. Virulence determinants are usually proteinaceous in nature and are often either secreted to the bacterial cell surface or released into the external environment. Although secreted virulence proteins serve many divergent functions, remarkably, gram-negat...

In this review, we examine the main virulence determinants in Helicobacter pylori (Hp) strains and the correlation between these and the different diseases following Hp infections. We also discuss the host response to Hp and the implications and advantages of the development of non-invasive pre-endoscopy screening of molecular and serological markers associated with Hp virulence and disease pro...

A pathogen is a microorganism that is able to cause disease in a plant, animal or insect. Pathogenicity is the ability to produce disease in a host organism. Microbes express their pathogenicity by means of their virulence, a term which refers to the degree of pathogenicity of the microbe. Hence the determinants of virulence of a pathogen are any of its genetic or biochemical or structural feat...

Neonectria ditissima is the causal agent of apple canker. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of two isolates of N. ditissima that differ in virulence. Comparative genomics will enable pathogenicity determinants to be identified in this plant-pathogenic fungus.

We present draft genome sequences of 10 Helicobacter pylori clinical strains isolated from children. This will be important for future studies of comparative genomics in order to better understand the virulence determinants underlying peptic ulcer disease.