title: The different ecological niches of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.
abstract: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a water and food-borne pathogen that infects the small intestine of the human gut and causes diarrhoea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli adheres to the epithelium by means of colonization factors and secretes two enterotoxins, the heat labile toxin and/or the heat stable toxin that both deregulate ion channels and cause secretory diarrhoea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli as all E. coli, is a versatile organism able to survive and grow in different environments. During transmission and infection, ETEC is exposed to various environmental cues that have an impact on survivability and virulence. The ability to cope with exposure to different stressful habitats is probably shaping the pool of virulent ETEC strains that cause both endemic and epidemic infections. This review will focus on the ecology of ETEC in its different habitats and interactions with other organisms as well as abiotic factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gonzales-Siles
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Åsa
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Sjöling
mesh_terms: D003967:Diarrhea; D017753:Ecosystem; D054307:Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006801:Humans; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins