title: Honing the message: post-transcriptional and post-translational control in attaching and effacing pathogens.
abstract: Bacteria evolve their capacity to cause disease by acquiring virulence genes that are usually clustered in discrete genetic modules termed pathogenicity islands (PAI). Stable integration of PAIs into pre-existing transcriptional networks coordinates expression from PAIs with ancestral genes in response to diverse environmental cues. Such transcriptional controls are evident in the regulation of the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), a PAI of enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. However, recent reports indicate that global post-transcriptional and post-translational regulators, including CsrA, Hfq and ClpXP, fine-tune the transcriptional output from the LEE. In this opinion article, we highlight recent advances in the understanding of post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation in attaching and effacing pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Shantanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhatt
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Romeo
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kalman
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D054324:Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D054308:Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D044404:Genomic Islands; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C073819:eaeA protein, E coli