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Harvesting and processing of leafy greens inherently cause plant tissue damage, creating niches on leaves that human pathogens can exploit. We previously demonstrated that Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EcO157) multiplies more rapidly on shredded leaves than on intact leaves (M. T. Brandl, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74:5285-5289, 2008). To investigate how EcO157 cells adapt to physicochemical conditions in injured lettuce tissue, we used microarray-based whole-genome transcriptional profiling to characterize gene expression patterns in EcO157 after 15- and 30-min exposures to romaine lettuce lysates. Multiple carbohydrate transport systems that have a role in the utilization of substrates known to be prevalent in plant cells were activated in EcO157. This indicates the availability to the human pathogen of a variety of carbohydrates released from injured plant cells that may promote its extensive growth in leaf …