In the modern swine industry, weaning is a critical period in the pig’s life cycle. Sudden dietary, social, and environmental changes can easily lead to gut microbiota dysbiosis, diarrhea, and a decrease in growth performance.
The pathogenicity of
Escherichia coli (E. coli)
O157:H7 is predominantly associated with Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) that poses a huge threat to human and animal intestinal health. Production of Stx2 requires expression of
stx2
gene, which is located in the genome of lambdoid Stx2 prophage. Growing evidence has implicated that many commonly consumed foods participate in the regulation of prophage induction. In this study, we aimed to explore whether specific dietary functional sugars could inhibit Stx2 prophage induction in
E. coli
O157:H7, thereby preventing Stx2 production and promoting intestinal health. We demonstrated that Stx2 prophage induction in
E. coli
O157:H7 was strongly inhibited by L-arabinose both
in
vitro
and in a mouse model. Mechanistically, L-arabinose at doses of 9, 12, or 15 mM diminished RecA protein levels, a master mediator of the SOS response, contributing to reduced Stx2-converting phage induction. L-Arabinose inhibited quorum sensing and oxidative stress response, which are known as positive regulators of the SOS response and subsequent Stx2 phage production. Furthermore, L-arabinose impaired
E. coli
O157:H7 arginine transport and metabolism that were involved in producing Stx2 phage. Collectively, our results suggest that L-arabinose may be exploited as a novel Stx2 prophage induction inhibitor against
E. coli
O157:H7 infection.
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