Virulence

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Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host.

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In most, 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. [2] [3] In the specific context of gene for gene systems, often in plants, virulence refers to a pathogen's ability to infect a resistant host. [4]

The noun virulence (Latin noun virulentia) derives from the adjective virulent, meaning disease severity. [5] The word virulent derives from the Latin word virulentus, meaning "a poisoned wound" or "full of poison." [5] [6] The term virulence does not only apply to viruses.

From an ecological standpoint, virulence is the loss of fitness induced by a parasite upon its host. Virulence can be understood in terms of proximate causes—those specific traits of the pathogen that help make the host ill—and ultimate causes—the evolutionary pressures that lead to virulent traits occurring in a pathogen strain. [7]

Virulent bacteria

The ability of bacteria to cause disease is described in terms of the number of infecting bacteria, the route of entry into the body, the effects of host defense mechanisms, and intrinsic characteristics of the bacteria called virulence factors. Many virulence factors are so-called effector proteins that are injected into the host cells by specialized secretion apparati, such as the type three secretion system. Host-mediated pathogenesis is often important because the host can respond aggressively to infection with the result that host defense mechanisms do damage to host tissues while the infection is being countered (e.g., cytokine storm).

The virulence factors of bacteria are typically proteins or other molecules that are synthesized by enzymes. These proteins are coded for by genes in chromosomal DNA, bacteriophage DNA or plasmids. Certain bacteria employ mobile genetic elements and horizontal gene transfer. Therefore, strategies to combat certain bacterial infections by targeting these specific virulence factors and mobile genetic elements have been proposed. [8] Bacteria use quorum sensing to synchronise release of the molecules. These are all proximate causes of morbidity in the host.

Methods by which bacteria cause disease

Adhesion
Many bacteria must first bind to host cell surfaces. Many bacterial and host molecules that are involved in the adhesion of bacteria to host cells have been identified. Often, the host cell surface receptors for bacteria are essential proteins for other functions. Due to the presence of mucus lining and of anti-microbial substances around some host cells, it is difficult for certain pathogens to establish direct contact-adhesion.
Colonization
Some virulent bacteria produce special proteins that allow them to colonize parts of the host body. Helicobacter pylori is able to survive in the acidic environment of the human stomach by producing the enzyme urease. Colonization of the stomach lining by this bacterium can lead to gastric ulcers and cancer. The virulence of various strains of Helicobacter pylori tends to correlate with the level of production of urease.
Invasion
Some virulent bacteria produce proteins that either disrupt host cell membranes or stimulate their own endocytosis or macropinocytosis into host cells. These virulence factors allow the bacteria to enter host cells and facilitate entry into the body across epithelial tissue layers at the body surface.
Immune response inhibitors
Many bacteria produce virulence factors that inhibit the host's immune system defenses. For example, a common bacterial strategy is to produce proteins that bind host antibodies. The polysaccharide capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae inhibits phagocytosis of the bacterium by host immune cells.
Toxins
Many virulence factors are proteins made by bacteria that poison host cells and cause tissue damage. For example, there are many food poisoning toxins produced by bacteria that can contaminate human foods. Some of these can remain in "spoiled" food even after cooking and cause illness when the contaminated food is consumed. Other bacterial toxins are chemically altered and inactivated by the heat of cooking.

Virulent viruses

Virus virulence factors allow it to replicate, modify host defenses, and spread within the host, and they are toxic to the host. [9]

They determine whether infection occurs and how severe the resulting viral disease symptoms are. Viruses often require receptor proteins on host cells to which they specifically bind. Typically, these host cell proteins are endocytosed and the bound virus then enters the host cell. Virulent viruses such as HIV, which causes AIDS, have mechanisms for evading host defenses. HIV infects T-helper cells, which leads to a reduction of the adaptive immune response of the host and eventually leads to an immunocompromised state. Death results from opportunistic infections secondary to disruption of the immune system caused by AIDS. Some viral virulence factors confer ability to replicate during the defensive inflammation responses of the host such as during virus-induced fever. Many viruses can exist inside a host for long periods during which little damage is done. Extremely virulent strains can eventually evolve by mutation and natural selection within the virus population inside a host. The term "neurovirulent" is used for viruses such as rabies and herpes simplex which can invade the nervous system and cause disease there.

Extensively studied model organisms of virulent viruses include virus T4 and other T-even bacteriophages which infect Escherichia coli and a number of related bacteria.

The lytic life cycle of virulent bacteriophages is contrasted by the temperate lifecycle of temperate bacteriophages. [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infection</span> Invasion of an organisms body by pathogenic agents

An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an illness resulting from an infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prophage</span> Bacteriophage genome that is integrated into a bacterial cell

A prophage is a bacteriophage genome that is integrated into the circular bacterial chromosome or exists as an extrachromosomal plasmid within the bacterial cell. Integration of prophages into the bacterial host is the characteristic step of the lysogenic cycle of temperate phages. Prophages remain latent in the genome through multiple cell divisions until activation by an external factor, such as UV light, leading to production of new phage particles that will lyse the cell and spread. As ubiquitous mobile genetic elements, prophages play important roles in bacterial genetics and evolution, such as in the acquisition of virulence factors.

<i>Rickettsia rickettsii</i> Species of bacterium

Rickettsia rickettsii is a Gram-negative, intracellular, coccobacillus bacterium that was first discovered in 1902. Having a reduced genome, the bacterium harvests nutrients from its host cell to carry out respiration, making it an organoheterotroph. Maintenance of its genome is carried out through vertical gene transfer where specialization of the bacterium allows it to shuttle host sugars directly into its TCA cycle.

<i>Corynebacterium diphtheriae</i> Species of prokaryote

Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. It is also known as the Klebs–Löffler bacillus because it was discovered in 1884 by German bacteriologists Edwin Klebs (1834–1912) and Friedrich Löffler (1852–1915). The bacteria are usually harmless unless they are infected by a bacteriophage that carries a gene that gives rise to a toxin. This toxin causes the disease. Diphtheria is caused by the adhesion and infiltration of the bacteria into the mucosal layers of the body, primarily affecting the respiratory tract and the subsequent release of an exotoxin. The toxin has a localized effect on skin lesions, as well as a metastatic, proteolytic effects on other organ systems in severe infections. Originally a major cause of childhood mortality, diphtheria has been almost entirely eradicated due to the vigorous administration of the diphtheria vaccination in the 1910s.

Viral pathogenesis is the study of the process and mechanisms by which viruses cause diseases in their target hosts, often at the cellular or molecular level. It is a specialized field of study in virology.

Adhesins are cell-surface components or appendages of bacteria that facilitate adhesion or adherence to other cells or to surfaces, usually in the host they are infecting or living in. Adhesins are a type of virulence factor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lysogenic cycle</span> Process of virus reproduction

Lysogeny, or the lysogenic cycle, is one of two cycles of viral reproduction. Lysogeny is characterized by integration of the bacteriophage nucleic acid into the host bacterium's genome or formation of a circular replicon in the bacterial cytoplasm. In this condition the bacterium continues to live and reproduce normally, while the bacteriophage lies in a dormant state in the host cell. The genetic material of the bacteriophage, called a prophage, can be transmitted to daughter cells at each subsequent cell division, and later events can release it, causing proliferation of new phages via the lytic cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Innate immune system</span> Immunity strategy in living beings

The innate immune system or nonspecific immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies in vertebrates. The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune system response found in plants, fungi, prokaryotes, and invertebrates.

<i>Yersinia pseudotuberculosis</i> Species of bacterium

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes Far East scarlet-like fever in humans, who occasionally get infected zoonotically, most often through the food-borne route. Animals are also infected by Y. pseudotuberculosis. The bacterium is urease positive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity</span> Cell-mediated killing of other cells mediated by antibodies

Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), also referred to as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, is a mechanism of cell-mediated immune defense whereby an effector cell of the immune system kills a target cell, whose membrane-surface antigens have been bound by specific antibodies. It is one of the mechanisms through which antibodies, as part of the humoral immune response, can act to limit and contain infection.

Virulence factors are cellular structures, molecules and regulatory systems that enable microbial pathogens to achieve the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panton–Valentine leukocidin</span>

Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a cytotoxin—one of the β-pore-forming toxins. The presence of PVL is associated with increased virulence of certain strains (isolates) of Staphylococcus aureus. It is present in the majority of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) isolates studied and is the cause of necrotic lesions involving the skin or mucosa, including necrotic hemorrhagic pneumonia. PVL creates pores in the membranes of infected cells. PVL is produced from the genetic material of a bacteriophage that infects Staphylococcus aureus, making it more virulent.

Host tropism is the infection specificity of certain pathogens to particular hosts and host tissues. This explains why most pathogens are only capable of infecting a limited range of host organisms.

<i>Pasteurella multocida</i> Species of bacterium

Pasteurella multocida is a Gram-negative, nonmotile, penicillin-sensitive coccobacillus of the family Pasteurellaceae. Strains of the species are currently classified into five serogroups based on capsular composition and 16 somatic serovars (1–16). P. multocida is the cause of a range of diseases in mammals and birds, including fowl cholera in poultry, atrophic rhinitis in pigs, and bovine hemorrhagic septicemia in cattle and buffalo. It can also cause a zoonotic infection in humans, which typically is a result of bites or scratches from domestic pets. Many mammals and birds harbor it as part of their normal respiratory microbiota.

Microbial toxins are toxins produced by micro-organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, dinoflagellates, and viruses. Many microbial toxins promote infection and disease by directly damaging host tissues and by disabling the immune system. Endotoxins most commonly refer to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipooligosaccharide (LOS) that are in the outer plasma membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. The botulinum toxin, which is primarily produced by Clostridium botulinum and less frequently by other Clostridium species, is the most toxic substance known in the world. However, microbial toxins also have important uses in medical science and research. Currently, new methods of detecting bacterial toxins are being developed to better isolate and understand these toxins. Potential applications of toxin research include combating microbial virulence, the development of novel anticancer drugs and other medicines, and the use of toxins as tools in neurobiology and cellular biology.

In biology, a pathogen, in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.

The host–pathogen interaction is defined as how microbes or viruses sustain themselves within host organisms on a molecular, cellular, organismal or population level. This term is most commonly used to refer to disease-causing microorganisms although they may not cause illness in all hosts. Because of this, the definition has been expanded to how known pathogens survive within their host, whether they cause disease or not.

This glossary of virology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in virology, the study of viruses, particularly in the description of viruses and their actions. Related fields include microbiology, molecular biology, and genetics.

Antivirulence is the concept of blocking virulence factors. 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.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to concepts related to infectious diseases in humans.

References

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  2. ↑ "MeSH - Medical Subject Headings, Karolinska Institute, 13 April 2010". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  3. ↑ Biology Online (7 October 2019). "Virulence". Biology Online.
  4. ↑ Thrall, Peter H.; Burdon, Jeremy J. (2003). "Evolution of Virulence in a Plant Host-Pathogen Metapopulation". Science. 299 (5613): 1735–7. Bibcode:2003Sci...299.1735T. doi:10.1126/science.1080070. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   12637745. S2CID   6894315.
  5. 1 2 "virulent" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  6. ↑ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles. "vīrŭlentus". A Latin Dictionary . Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  7. ↑ "Plant disease | Importance, Types, Transmission, & Control | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  8. ↑ Keen, E. C. (2012). "Paradigms of pathogenesis: Targeting the mobile genetic elements of disease". Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 2: 161. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2012.00161 . PMC   3522046 . PMID   23248780.
  9. ↑ Flint, S.Jane; Enquist, Lynn W.; Racaniello, Vincent R.; Skalka, Anna Marie (2009). Principles of Virology. Vol. II Pathogenesis and Control (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: ASM. pp. 42–7. ISBN   978-1-55581-480-9.
  10. ↑ Madigan, M. T.; Martinko, J. M. (2006). Brock Biology of Microorganisms (11th ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN   978-0-13-144329-7.
  11. ↑ "lytic phage | virus | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
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