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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Vibrio cholerae: Model Organism to Study Bacterial Pathogenesis - Interview
Published on: May 28, 2007
Tracking Vibrio cholerae Cell-Cell Interactions during Infection Reveals Bacterial Population Dynamics within
Yang Fu1, Brian T Ho1, John J Mekalanos1
1Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cholera. Although many V. cholerae virulence factors have been studied, the role of interbacterial interactions within the host gut and their influence on colonization are poorly understood. Here, we utilized the conjugative properties of a Vibrio-specific plasmid to serve as a quantifiable genetic marker for direct contact among V. cholerae cells in the infant rabbit model for cholera. In conjunction, we also quantified contact-dependent type 6 secretion system (T6SS)-mediated killing of co-infecting V. cholerae strains. Tracking these interbacterial interactions revealed that most contact-dependent cell-cell interactions among V. cholerae occur in specific intestinal microenvironments, notably the distal small intestine and cecum, and that the T6SS confers a competitive advantage within the middle small intestine. These results support a model for V. cholerae gut colonization, which includes microenvironments where critical microbial-host and bacterial-bacterial interactions occur to facilitate colonization by this pathogen.
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