Culture supernates from two strains of E. coli were placed into different ligated intestinal sections (loops) of each animal. The two bacterial strains were identical except that one contained a plasmid carrying the heat-stable toxin b (STb) gene, while the other did not. Morphometric techniques were used to assess villous epithelial surface areas and mucosal volumes in both intestinal segments exposed to STb-positive (test) and to STb-negative (control) supernates. In pigs whose intestines were exposed to STb-positive supernatants for 2 hours, both villous epithelial surface area and mucosal volume were significantly smaller in test loops than in control loops (P less than 0.02). In test loops of pigs incubated for 1 hour, and in test loops of lambs incubated for 2 hours, there was a decrease in villous epithelial surface area which approached the test for significance but did not meet it (0.05 less than P less than 0.10). Rabbit test loops did not differ from rabbit control loops in either villous epithelial surface area or mucosal volume. Histological examination of the tissues from all three species revealed epithelial changes in porcine and ovine tissues only. In porcine and ovine tissues, epithelium at villous tips was seen to be cuboidal or squamous, or even to be absent. Villi with similarly altered epithelium were seen in control loops, but were seen much more frequently in test loops. These epithelial changes were seen as early as 30 minutes of incubation in pigs. Intestinal tissues from these pigs were examined by transmission electron microscopy, but no difference between test and control tissues was seen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)