Characterization of Genetically Matched Isolates of Campylobacter jejuni Reveals that Mutations in Genes Involved in Flagellar Biosynthesis Alter the Organism's Virulence Potential

Preeti Malik-Kale; Brian H Raphael; Craig T Parker; Lynn A Joens; John D Klena; Beatriz Quiñones; Amy M Keech; Michael E Konkel

doi:10.1128/AEM.01399-06

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Characterization of Genetically Matched Isolates of Campylobacter jejuni Reveals that Mutations in Genes Involved in Flagellar Biosynthesis Alter the Organism's Virulence Potential

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Characterization of Genetically Matched Isolates of Campylobacter jejuni Reveals that Mutations in Genes Involved in Flagellar Biosynthesis Alter the Organism's Virulence Potential

Preeti Malik-Kale, Brian H Raphael, Craig T Parker, Lynn A Joens, John D Klena, Beatriz Quiñones, Amy M Keech and Michael E Konkel

Applied and environmental microbiology, Vol.73(10), pp.3123-3136

05/2007

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01399-06

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https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101017

PMCID: PMC1907099

PMID: 17369342

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Abstract

Genetics and Molecular Biology

Phenotypic and genotypic evidence suggests that not all Campylobacter jejuni isolates are pathogenic for humans. We hypothesized that differences in gene content or gene expression alter the degree of pathogenicity of C. jejuni isolates. A C. jejuni isolate (Turkey) recovered from a turkey and a second C. jejuni isolate (CS) recovered from a chicken differed in their degrees of in vitro and in vivo virulence. The C. jejuni Turkey isolate invaded INT 407 human epithelial cells and secreted the Cia ( Campylobacter i nvasion a ntigen) proteins, while the C. jejuni CS isolate was noninvasive for human epithelial cells and did not secrete the Cia proteins. Newborn piglets inoculated with the C. jejuni Turkey isolate developed more severe clinical signs of campylobacteriosis than piglets inoculated with the C. jejuni CS isolate. Additional work revealed that flagellin was not expressed in the C. jejuni CS isolate. Microarray and real-time reverse transcription-PCR analyses revealed that all flagellar class II genes were significantly downregulated in the C. jejuni CS isolate compared to the C. jejuni Turkey isolate. Finally, nucleotide sequencing of the flgR gene revealed the presence of a single residue that was different in the FlgR proteins of the C. jejuni Turkey and CS isolates. Complementation of the C. jejuni CS isolate with a wild-type copy of the flgR gene restored the isolate's motility. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that critical differences in gene content or gene expression can alter the pathogenic potential of C. jejuni isolates.

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Title: Characterization of Genetically Matched Isolates of Campylobacter jejuni Reveals that Mutations in Genes Involved in Flagellar Biosynthesis Alter the Organism's Virulence Potential
Creators: Preeti Malik-Kale - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Brian H Raphael - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Craig T Parker - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Lynn A Joens - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
John D Klena - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Beatriz Quiñones - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Amy M Keech - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Michael E Konkel - School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Publication Details: Applied and environmental microbiology, Vol.73(10), pp.3123-3136
Academic Unit: Molecular Biosciences, School of
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Identifiers: 99900546554301842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article