| Species/Subspecies: | Shigella dysenteriae | ||||||||
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| Etymology: | Genus name: named after the Japanese bacteriologist K. Shiga, who first (1896) discovered the bacterium, which causes dysentery Species name: of dysentery | ||||||||
| Significance: | Outbreaks of human dysentery are not common in Sweden (about 5 cases per year) and the disease occurs primarely in developing countries. However, a comparatively big outbreak (45 persons) has recently (May-June, 2009) occured in Sweden. The suspected infection source was contaminated imported vegetables. [Important] |
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| Taxonomy: | Class Gammaproteobacteria Order Enterobacterales Family Enterobacteriaceae Genus Shigella |
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| Type Strain: | ATCC 13313 = NCTC 4837. | ||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell): | |||||||||
| Micromorphology: | Small (0.4-0.6 x 1-3 µm), non-motile rods. | ||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G- | ||||||||
| Metabolism: | Facultatively anaerobic. | ||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | V/- | ||||||||
| Other Enzymes: | Esculinase -, tryptophanase V (serotype 1: -, serotype 2: +), urease -. | ||||||||
| Biochemical Tests: | Citrate -, methyl red +, Voges-Proskauer -. | ||||||||
| Fermentation of carbohydrates: | D-glucose + lactose - maltose ? L-rhamnose ? sucrose - L-arabinose ? cellobiose - D-mannitol - salicin - trehalose ? glycerol ? inulin ? raffinose - D-sorbitol V starch ? |
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| Disease: | Shigellosis or bacillary dysentery. |
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| Hosts: | Primates (including humans). | ||||||||
| Clinical Picture: | Fever, vomitting, abdominal pain and mucoid bloody diarrhea. | ||||||||
| Virulence Factors: | The shigatoxin (AB5), which is coded by the stx gene and which is composed of two different subunits (A and B). B is a pentamer, which makes it possible for the toxin to bind to a specific glycolipid on the cellsurface. Then the A subunit can enter the cell, where it will be cleaved to an active exonuclease (A1). A1 inhibits protein biosynthesis by removing an adenosine residue from the 28S rRNA. This will in turn result in damages on epithelial cells. | ||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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Four species have been described within the genus Shigella. These species and Escherichia coli are all very closely related and can phylogenetically be regarded as the same species. In spite of that fact, they have been taxonomically arranged into two different genera. | ||||||||
| Legislation: | Human dysentery is in Sweden classified as a notifiable disease and it is compulsary to report it to the Public Health Agency of Sweden. S. dysenteriae belongs to category B as a potential biological weapon according to NIAID. | ||||||||
| Comment: | Escherichia coli of type VTEC (verotoxin producing E. coli) has Shiga like toxins. | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-29 |