Implications of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli genomics for vaccine development.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality caused by diarrhea in children less than 5 years of age in low- and middle-income countries. Despite a wealth of research elucidating the mechanisms of disease, the immunological responses and vaccine development, ETEC is still relatively uncharacterized when it comes to regulation of virulence and detailed immune mechanisms. The recent emergence of next-generation sequencing now offers the possibility to screen genomes of ETEC strains isolated globally to identify novel vaccine targets in addition to those already established. In this review, we discuss how recent findings on ETEC genomics using novel sequencing techniques will aid in finding novel protective antigens that can be used in vaccine approaches.