Question:medium

Which of the following bacterial toxins acts by inhibiting elongation factor 2 (EF-2)?

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The classic EF-2 ADP-ribosylating A-B exotoxin is from Corynebacterium.
Updated On: Jun 25, 2026
  • Diphtheria toxin
  • Cholera toxin
  • Tetanospasmin
  • Heat-labile toxin of E. coli
Show Solution

The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The question gives three overlapping descriptors - diphtheria toxin, AB exotoxin, ADP-ribosylation - which are really three facets of the same answer. The molecular event being asked about is inactivation of elongation factor 2.

Diphtheria toxin is a two-component (A-B) exotoxin. The B fragment binds and delivers the A fragment into the cytosol, where the A fragment transfers an ADP-ribose group from NAD$^+$ onto diphthamide, a modified histidine residue found only on EF-2:

$\text{EF-2} + \text{NAD}^+ \xrightarrow{\text{toxin A}} \text{EF-2-ADP-ribose} + \text{nicotinamide}$

Once ADP-ribosylated, EF-2 can no longer drive ribosomal translocation, so translation stops and the cell dies. Cholera and E. coli LT toxins also ADP-ribosylate, but their target is Gsalpha, not EF-2, producing secretory diarrhoea rather than cytotoxicity. Hence the EF-2 inhibitor is the diphtheria toxin.

\[\boxed{\text{Diphtheria toxin (ADP-ribosylates EF-2)}}\]
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