Genomics: Pathogenic E. coli

The notorious gut pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 was first identified in 1982. Three outbreaks of severe bloody diarrhoea, two in Oregon, one in Michigan, were traced to contaminated undercooked hamburgers. The deadliest outbreak occurred in Scotland in 1996-97, killing 21 people, and there is as yet no effective treatment. Now however, we at least have the pathogen's genome. Comparison with the genome of a harmless strain of E. coli reveals a surprising level of diversity for two members of the same species and suggests many genes that might be involved in causing disease, including those encoding the Shiga-like toxin that makes O157:H7 so dangerous.

Genome sequence of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7
NICOLE T. PERNA, GUY PLUNKETT, III VALERIE BURLAND, BOB MAU, JEREMY D. GLASNER, DEBRA J. ROSE, GEORGE F. MAYHEW, PETER S. EVANS, JASON GREGOR, HEATHER A. KIRKPATRICK, GY�RGY PÓSFAI, JEREMIAH HACKETT, SARA KLINK, ADAM BOUTIN, YING SHAO, LESLIE MILLER, ERIK J. GROTBECK, N. WAYNE DAVIS, ALEX LIM, EILEEN T. DIMALANTA, KONSTANTINOS D. POTAMOUSIS, JENNIFER APODACA, THOMAS S. ANANTHARAMAN, JIEYI LIN, GALEX YEN, DAVID C. SCHWARTZ, RODNEY A. WELCH, FREDERICK R. BLATTNER
Nature 409, 529-533 (25 January 2001)
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Microbiology: Gastrogenomics
JONATHAN A. EISEN
The genome of an Escherichia coli strain that is emerging as a severe threat to human health has been sequenced. Comparing it with that of a harmless strain suggests why some forms of this bacterium cause disease.
Nature 409, 463-466 (25 January 2001)
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lifelines: Burger bug genome revealed
Fast food fans may find comfort in the genome sequence of E. coli O157:H7 (25 January 2001)

25 January 2001 table of contents