Campylobacter jejuni : molecular biology and pathogenesis

• Published in: Nature reviews. Microbiology 2007-09, Vol.5 (9), p.665-679
• Main Authors: DiRita, Victor J, Young, Kathryn T, Davis, Lindsay M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Campylobacter; Campylobacter infections; Campylobacter Infections - microbiology; Campylobacter Infections - pathology; Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter jejuni - genetics; Campylobacter jejuni - metabolism; Campylobacter jejuni - pathogenicity; Causes of; Chickens; Colonization; Development and progression; Genes; Genomes; Host-bacteria relationships; Humans; Infections; Infectious Diseases; Laboratory animals; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Models, Biological; Molecular biology; Mutagenesis; Parasitology; Pathogenesis; Pathogens; Physiological aspects; Plasmids; Poultry; Properties; review-article; Virology; Virulence - genetics
• ISSN: 1740-1526; 1740-1534
• DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1718

Key Points Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of foodborne bacterial illness and its prevalence rivals or even surpasses that of Salmonella foodborne infections in the developed world. Both animal and environmental reservoirs can be responsible for human infection, but chickens are a primary source of sporadic human infection. C. jejuni exhibits sequence diversity owing in part to hypervariable sequences in the genome as well as to efficent DNA-transformation mechanisms. Despite its significance as a threat to human health, its pathogenic mechanisms have been poorly explored compared with those of other bacterial pathogens. Progress-limiting issues have been the lack of tractable genetic tools as well as inconvenient or poor animal models of disease. Genomic and genetic analyses of C. jejuni have revealed mechanisms of pathogenicity and chick colonization. Pathogenicity is multi-factorial and requires the presence of the flagella, the capsule, both O -linked and N -linked protein glycosylation and secreted proteins that facilitate host-cell invasion. C. jejuni is a pathogen in humans, but a commensal species in chickens. The immune responses and/or bacterial colonization features might therefore be host specific. Although Campylobacter jejuni is a common foodborne bacterial pathogen, we know less about its biology and pathogenicity than we do about other less prevalent pathogens. Here, we examine the biological factors of C. jejuni that contribute to colonization and disease in humans and chickens. Campylobacter jejuni is a foodborne bacterial pathogen that is common in the developed world. However, we know less about its biology and pathogenicity than we do about other less prevalent pathogens. Interest in C. jejuni has increased in recent years as a result of the growing appreciation of its importance as a pathogen and the availability of new model systems and genetic and genomic technologies. C. jejuni establishes persistent, benign infections in chickens and is rapidly cleared by many strains of laboratory mouse, but causes significant inflammation and enteritis in humans. Comparing the different host responses to C. jejuni colonization should increase our understanding of this organism.