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Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host. In most cases, especially in animal systems, virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by a microbe to its host. [1] The pathogenicity of an organism—its ability to cause disease—is determined by its virulence factors.
Virulence factors (preferably known as ... Some bacteria secrete exotoxins, which have a wide range of effects, including inhibiting certain biochemical pathways in ...
A successful pathogen needs to spread to at least one other host, and lower virulence can result in higher transmission rates under some circumstances. Likewise, genetic resistance against the virus can develop in a host population over time. [2] [29] An example of the evolution of virulence in emerging virus is the case of myxomatosis in ...
Pathogenomics is a field which uses high-throughput screening technology and bioinformatics to study encoded microbe resistance, as well as virulence factors (VFs), which enable a microorganism to infect a host and possibly cause disease.
Virulence genes carried within prophages as discrete autonomous genetic elements, known as morons, confer an advantage to the bacteria that indirectly benefits the virus through enhanced lysogen survival. [16] Examples: Corynebacterium diphtheriae produces the toxin of diphtheria only when it is infected by the phage β. In this case, the gene ...
The two pathways require different molecular chaperones and ultimately use a protein-transporting channel SecYEG for transporting the proteins across the inner cell membrane. [6] In the SecA pathway, SecB acts as a chaperone, helping protein transport to the periplasm after complete synthesis of the peptide chains.
Antivirulence is the concept of blocking virulence factors. [1] In regards to bacteria, the idea is to design agents that block virulence rather than kill bacteria en masse, as the current regime results in much more selective pressure (on antibiotic resistance).
The relationship between virulence and transmission is complex and has important consequences for the long term evolution of a pathogen. Since it takes many generations for a microbe and a new host species to co-evolve, an emerging pathogen may hit its earliest victims especially hard.