Deletion of pic results in decreased virulence for a clinical isolate of Shigella flexneri 2a from China

摘要

BackgroundShigella is a major pathogen responsible for bacillary dysentery, a severe form of shigellosis. Severity of the disease depends on the virulence of the infecting strain. Shigella pathogenicity is a multi-gene phenomenon, involving the participation of genes on an unstable large virulence plasmid and chromosomal pathogenicity islands.