The Absence of Osmoregulated Periplasmic Glucan Confers Antimicrobial Resistance and Increases Virulence in Escherichia coli

Abstract

The gene mutation types that increase the bacterial virulence of Escherichia coli remain unclear, in part due to the limited number of methods available for isolating bacterial mutants with increased virulence. We utilized a bacterial evolution method in the silkworm infection model, in which silkworms were infected with mutagenized bacteria and highly virulent bacterial mutants were isolated from dead silkworms.