title: Commensal 'trail of bread crumbs' provide pathogens with a map to the intestinal landscape.
abstract: Growth of a microorganism in a host is essential for infection, and bacterial pathogens have evolved to utilize specific metabolites to enhance replication in vivo. Now, emerging data demonstrate that pathogens rely on microbiota-derived metabolites as a form of bacterial-bacterial communication to gain information about location within a host and modify virulence gene expression accordingly. Thus, metabolite-sensing is critical for pathogens to establish infection. Here, we highlight recent examples of how the foodborne pathogen enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) exploits microbiota-derived metabolites to recognize the host intestinal environment and control gene expression that results in controlled expression of virulence traits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 1340 Jefferson Park Ave., Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Luzader
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 1340 Jefferson Park Ave., Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. Electronic address: melissakendall@virginia.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kendall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019856:Ethanolamine / Q000378:metabolism; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000502:physiology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D056265:Microbial Interactions; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; C505653:TNFSF10 protein, human; D019856:Ethanolamine