PMC

The “Key and Lock” model of UTI susceptibility. For a given host-pathogen interaction (shown at the top), the risk of a UTI (shown in color scale from blue being low risk and red being high risk) depends on the susceptibility profile of the host (on one axis) and the pathogenicity of the UPEC (on the other axis) resulting in peaks of high risk and valleys of low risk. Previous research has shown that host susceptibility (shown on the bottom left) is mediated by the interaction of genetic and environmental influences (listed below) resulting in variable susceptibility profiles. More recent research has shown that the genotype of an E. coli strain alone is insufficient to predict its virulence across diverse hosts. Instead the transcriptional profile, in addition to the genotype, is better able to predict high urovirulence phenotypes (shown in the bottom right). UTI, urinary tract infection; UPEC, uropathogenic Escherichia coli.