Research progress in Shigella in the postgenomic era

Gram-negative, facultative intracellular anaerobes of the genus Shigella, the principal etiologic agents of shigellosis, continue to pose a threat to public health. Shigellosis causes 1.1 million deaths with over 164 million annual cases. The Shigella spp. can be divided into four serogroups: Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella boydii and Shigella sonnei. The completion of seven Shigella genome sequences of representative strains from each of the Shigella species has introduced an era of whole-genome study. This paper reviews contemporary understanding of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and the structural biology of Shigella.