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Escherichia coli gets the message

Bacterial signaling systems have come into vogue lately as mediators of successful interactions with the host. Now it appears that human hormones present in the gut interact with one such signaling system.

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Figure 1: Host manipulation.

Courtesy of Jennifer Abbott

Figure 2: Proposed regulation of type III secretion and motility in enterohemorrhagic E. coli by AI-3 and catecholamines.

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Winzer, K., Williams, P. Escherichia coli gets the message. Nat Med 9, 1118–1119 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0903-1118

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