Abstract
Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common foodborne pathogen worldwide. A putative transcriptional regulator, Cj0440c, was up-regulated in the erythromycin-resistant C. jejuni, however, the precise role of Cj0440c is yet to be determined. The aim of this study was to determine the biological functions of Cj0440c. The Cj0440c isogenic mutants were constructed from erythromycin-susceptible C. jejuni NCTC 11168 (S) and -resistant C. jejuni 68-ER (R), designating as SM and RM, respectively. The isogenic Cj0440c mutants (SM and RM) and parental strains (S and R) were subjected to microarray and qRT-PCR analysis to examine the transcriptional profile changes contributed by Cj0440c. The antimicrobial susceptibility, flagellar morphology, in vitro growth and in vivo colonization in chickens were carried out to analyze the biological function of Cj0440c. The results showed that 17 genes were down-regulated in SM compared to S, while 9 genes were down-regulated in RM compared to R. The genes with transcriptional change were mainly involved in flagella biosynthesis and assembly. Using transmission electron microscopy, we found that the filaments were impaired in SM and lost in RM. The chicken colonization experiments showed that Cj0440c mutants (SM and RM) had reduced colonization ability in chickens when compared with corresponding parental strains (S and R). In conclusion, Cj0440c regulates flagella biosynthesis and assembly, and consequently affect the in vivo colonization of erythromycin-susceptible and -resistant C. jejuni.
Highlights
Campylobacter jejuni has been recognized as one of the most important pathogens, which can cause infectious diarrhea and severe forms of disease such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome or Miller Fischer Syndrome (Samuel et al, 2004; Hughes and Cornblath, 2005; Riddle et al, 2006)
No filaments of RM were detected in RM (Figure 3D). These findings indicated that Cj0440c may affect the formation of flagella in C. jejuni
The TENA/THI4/PQQC family may have some indirect relationship with flagellar genes
Summary
Campylobacter jejuni has been recognized as one of the most important pathogens, which can cause infectious diarrhea and severe forms of disease such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome or Miller Fischer Syndrome (Samuel et al, 2004; Hughes and Cornblath, 2005; Riddle et al, 2006). The CDC estimated that in 2009 the number of Campylobacter infection was 13.02 per 100,000 people (Silva et al, 2011). Macrolides (e.g., erythromycin) are Biological Function of Cj0440c in C. jejuni the most important drugs of choice for clinical treatment of Campylobacter infections (Gibreel et al, 2005). Macrolides-resistant Campylobacter have emerged and impose a global public health concerns (Gibreel and Taylor, 2006; ECDC et al, 2009). In earlier study we demonstrated that the transcription level of Cj0440c was increased in high-level erythromycin-resistant C. jejuni (Hao et al, 2013)
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