Characterization of a highly toxic, large molecular size heat‐stable enterotoxin produced by a clinical isolate of Yersinia enterocolitica

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Abstract
A novel heat‐stable enterotoxin (ST) designated as Y‐STc was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant of a pathogenic strain of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O3 and its amino acid sequence was determined. The mature Y‐STc was found to consist of 53 amino acid residues, which includes the putative pro‐sequence. The molecular weight of Y‐STc was 5683 and constituted the largest molecular size in the family of currently known STs. The minimum effective dose of purified Y‐STc in the suckling mouse assay was 0.6 ng (0.1 pmol), indicating that, despite the long sequence, Y‐STc is the most toxic in the ST family.