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Laboratory Techniques Used to Maintain and Differentiate Biotypes of Vibrio cholerae Clinical and Environmental Isolates
Published on: May 30, 2017
The complexity of ToxT-dependent transcription in Vibrio cholerae
1South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases & Department of Biology, University of Texas, San Antonio, San Antonio TX, USA.
Abstract:
Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the disease cholera, characterized by profuse watery diarrhoea. Two of the main virulence factors associated with the disease are cholera toxin (CT) and toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP). Expression of CT and TCP is regulated via a complex cascade of factors that respond to environmental signals, but ultimately ToxT is the direct transcriptional activator of the genes encoding CT and TCP. Recent studies have begun to unveil the mechanisms behind ToxT-dependent transcription. We review current knowledge of transcriptional activation by ToxT and the environmental stimuli that allow ToxT to regulate virulence gene expression, resulting in cholera pathogenesis.
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