High-Throughput Screening of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Pathogenic Genes via Pathway Enrichment and Operon Analysis.

BACKGROUND: About thirty thousand people globally die every day from infectious diarrhea, mostly caused by pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7.

METHODS: In order to search for clinical diagnostic biomarkers and novel drug targets for infectious diarrhea, we used a bibliometric method to collect pathogenic genes of E. coli O157:H7 and performed a functional analysis of the important pathogenic genes by pathway enrichment and operon analysis.

RESULTS: We found 364 pathogenic genes which may be involved in infection with E. coli O157:H7 including 50 new specific pathogenic genes. It is possible that these newly found pathogenic genes will be of great importance in the treatment of E. coli O157:H7 infected diseases and the discovery of novel diagnostic biomarkers.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings also lay a theoretical foundation for the control, diagnosis, and prognosis of pathogenic E. coli related diseases.