Abstract
Iron is an essential micronutrient for most bacteria. Salmonella enterica strains, representing human and animal pathogens, have adopted several mechanisms to sequester iron from the environment depending on availability and source. Chickens act as a major reservoir for Salmonella enterica strains which can lead to outbreaks of human salmonellosis. In this review article we summarize the current understanding of the contribution of iron-uptake systems to the virulence of non-typhoidal S. enterica strains in colonizing chickens. We aim to address the gap in knowledge in this field, to help understand and define the interactions between S. enterica and these important hosts, in comparison to mammalian models.
Highlights
The genus Salmonella is composed of two species, Salmonella enterica and Salmonella bongori
The gastroenteritis-causing strains are collectively known as non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) strains and this review mainly focuses on NTS
Our understanding of iron in infection and immunity remains close to its infancy due to the complex nature of the interaction and ever-growing Salmonella serovars found in nature
Summary
The genus Salmonella is composed of two species, Salmonella enterica and Salmonella bongori. Salmonella enterica contains >2600 serovars which can infect insects, wild birds, reptiles and mammals. A significant proportion of human salmonellosis (>99%) are caused by serovars under subspecies I (enterica) it is the most important category in terms of public health. The gastroenteritis-causing strains are collectively known as non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) strains and this review mainly focuses on NTS. NTS strains have the capacity to infect broad livestock species, yet chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are known to be a major reservoir. This is supported by epidemiological data indicating that poultry represent a major epicenter for human salmonellosis (non-typhoidal) globally (Table 1) [9,10]
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