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Several bacteriophages contain toxin genes that become incorporated into the host bacteria genome through infection and render the bacteria toxic. [9] Many well known bacterial toxins are produced from specific strains of the bacteria species that have obtained toxigenicity through lysogenic conversion, pseudolysogeny, or horizontal gene ...
Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a condition caused by bacterial toxins. [1] Symptoms may include fever , rash , skin peeling , and low blood pressure . [ 1 ] There may also be symptoms related to the specific underlying infection such as mastitis , osteomyelitis , necrotising fasciitis , or pneumonia .
The toxins are named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first described the bacterial origin of dysentery caused by Shigella dysenteriae. [2] Shiga-like toxin ( SLT ) is a historical term for similar or identical toxins produced by Escherichia coli . [ 3 ]
The toxins interact with intestinal epithelium and can cause systematic complications in humans like HUS and cerebral dysfunction if they enter the circulation. [13] In EHEC, Shiga toxins are encoded by lysogenic bacteriophages. The toxins bind to cell-surface glycolipid receptor Gb3, which causes the cell to take the toxin in via endocytosis.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to concepts related to infectious diseases in humans.. Infection – transmission, entry/invasion after evading/overcoming defense, establishment, and replication of disease-causing microscopic organisms (pathogens) inside a host organism, and the reaction of host tissues to them and to the toxins they produce.
Infection by the Epstein–Barr virus, for example, is known to cause production of a SAg in infected cells, yet no gene for the toxin has been found on the genome of the virus. The virus manipulates the infected cell to express its own SAg genes, and this helps it to evade the host immune system.
Intracellular toxins must be able to gain access to the cytoplasm of the target cell to exert their effects. Some bacteria deliver toxins directly from their cytoplasm to the cytoplasm of the target cell through a needle-like structure. The effector proteins injected by the type III secretion apparatus of Yersinia into target cells are one example.
The toxins, named mycotoxins, deter other organisms from consuming the food the fungi colonise. As with bacterial toxins, there is a wide array of fungal toxins. Arguably one of the more dangerous mycotoxins is aflatoxin produced by certain species of the genus Aspergillus (notably A. flavus). If ingested repeatedly, this toxin can cause ...