Inverse Correlation between Extracellular DNase Activity and Biofilm Formation among Chicken-Derived Campylobacter Strains

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are important foodborne pathogenic bacteria, particularly in poultry meat. In this study, the presence of extracellular DNase activity was investigated for biofilm-deficient Campylobacter strains versus biofilm-forming Campylobacter strains isolated from chickens, to understand the relationship between extracellular DNase activity and biofilm formation. A biofilm-forming reference strain, C. jejuni NCTC11168, was co-incubated with biofilm non-forming strains isolated from raw chickens or their supernatants. The biofilm non-forming strains or supernatants significantly prohibited the biofilm formation of C. jejuni NCTC11168. In addition, the strains degraded pre-formed biofilms of C. jejuni NCTC11168. Degradation of C. jejuni NCTC11168 biofilm was confirmed after treatment with the supernatant of the biofilm non-forming strain 2-1 by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Quantitative analysis of the biofilm matrix revealed reduction of extracellular DNA (16%) and proteins (8.7%) after treatment. Whereas the biofilm-forming strains C. jejuni Y23-5 and C. coli 34-3 isolated from raw chickens and the C. jejuni NCTC11168 reference strain showed no extracellular DNase activity against their own genomic DNA, most biofilm non-forming strains tested, including C. jejuni 2-1, C. coli 34-1, and C. jejuni 63-1, exhibited obvious extracellular DNase activities against their own or 11168 genomic DNA, except for one biofilm non-former, C. jejuni 22-1. Our results suggest that extracellular DNase activity is a common feature suppressing biofilm formation among biofilm non-forming C. jejuni or C. coli strains of chicken origin.