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Updated: Jan 18, 2026

Detection of the pH-dependent Activity of Escherichia coli Chaperone HdeB In Vitro and In Vivo
Published on: October 23, 2016
PhoP/PhoQ two-component system contributes to regulating stress adaptation in Escherichia coli O157:H7 during
Jina Han1, Wei You2, Fugui Jiang2
1Poultry Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250100, PR China; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Jinan, Shandong 250100, PR China; Lab of Beef Processing and Quality Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong 271018, PR China.
Abstract:
Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) is a major foodborne pathogen with significant public health implications due to its strong acid resistance and ability to survive under stress conditions commonly encountered during meat processing and storage. This study investigated the role of the PhoP/PhoQ system in regulating stress adaptation in E. coli O157:H7 during simulated chilled beef storage. Deletion of the phoP gene (ΔphoP) resulted in significantly reduced bacterial resistance to acid, heat, and salt stress. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis identified 333 differentially expressed genes in the ΔphoP strain, with enrichment in pathways related to amino acid metabolism, ABC transporters, and pyruvate metabolism, highlighting the role of the PhoP/PhoQ system in nutrient acquisition and metabolic adaptation. Therefore, these findings demonstrate that the PhoP/PhoQ system plays a critical role in enabling E. coli O157:H7 to resist various environmental stresses.
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