Enterohemorrhagic E. coli "listens" to sugars to turn on virulence

Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) like the common O157:H7 strain cause an estimated 110,000 cases of bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps every year in the U.S., a subset of which lead to the more severe condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome. In the gut, the trouble with EHEC arguably starts when it forms “attaching and effacing” (AE) lesions in the intestinal lining. In a study in mBio this week, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center examined the controls on this virulence factor and found that EHEC uses a system for sensing sugar metabolites to turn the AE-making machinery on or off.