The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) is a fairly conserved pathogenicity island

Pathogenicity island

Pathogenicity islands are a distinct class of genomic islands acquired by microorganisms through horizontal gene transfer. They are incorporated in the genome of pathogenic organisms but are usually absent from those non-pathogenic organisms of the same or closely related species...

 consisting of 35,000 base pairs in the bacteria Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...

genome. The LEE encodes the Type III secretion system and associated chaperones and effector proteins responsible for attaching and effacing (AE) lesions in the large intestine. These proteins include intimin

Intimin

Intimin is a virulence factor of EPEC and EHEC E. coli strains. It is an attaching and effacing protein which with other virulence factors is responsible for enteropathogenic and enterohaemorrhagic diarrhoea.According to a TIME magazine Q & A story with Martin Wiedmann, a professor of food...

, Tir

TIR

Tir, tir or TIR may mean:* The French term for Schützenfest, a target-shooting competition* Tir , the fourth month in the Iranian calendar* Occasional spelling of the Old Norse theonym Tyr...

, EspC

ESPC

ESPC may refer to:* Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre* Embroidery Software Protection Coalition* Email Sender and Provider Coalition* Energy Savings Performance Contract...

, EspF, EspH, and Map protein. The LEE has a 38% G+C ratio.