Flexible Metabolism and Suppression of Latent Enzymes Are Important for Escherichia coli Adaptation to Diverse Environments within the Host

Abstract

Urinary tract infections are the most frequently diagnosed urologic disease, with uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) infections placing a significant financial burden on the health care system by generating more than two billion dollars in annual costs. This, in combination with steadily increasing antibiotic resistances to present day treatments, necessitates the discovery of new antimicrobial agents to combat these infections. By broadening our scope beyond the study of virulence properties and investigating bacterial physiology and metabolism, we gain a better understanding of how pathogens use nutrients and compete within host microenvironments, enabling us to cultivate new therapeutics to exploit and target pathogen growth requirements in a specific host environment.