About Campylobacter

General information:
Gram-negative, microaerophilic (means that they can survive in a low oxygen environment), non-fermenting, motile rods with a single polar flagellum, oxidase-positive and grow optimally at 37 or 42 degree.
Composed of 16 described species, 12 of which have been associated with human disease.
Characteristics:
Invasive pathogen.
Sharing a number of features with so-called mucosal pathogens such as Neisseria spp. and Haemophilus spp., including small genome sizes, capsular polysaccharide, lipo-oligosaccharide and polymeric tract containing phase variable genes. In contrast, a number of features found in other enteropathogens were absent, including pathogenicity islands or prophages.
Although Shigella and C. jejuni can both trigger bacillary dysentery, their overall molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis appear to be strikingly different
C. jejuni triggers microtubule (MT)-dependent entry into the intestinal epithelium
Internalized C. jejuni appear incapable of escaping from their membrane-bound vacuole, and the intracellullar C. jejuni replication is very limited
C. jejuni move intracellularly within vacuoles to the basolateral membrane before exocytosis.
Disease:
Campylobacter species are the major cause of human bacterial gastroenteritis, and C. jejuni and C. coli together account for over 95% of Campylobacter infections in humans.
Previous infection with certain strains of C. jejuni is linked with the development of the neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS).
Selected genomes: ⇒ comparative pathogenomics ⇐
C. fetus subsp. fetus 82-40, 1773615 bp, NC_008599
C. jejuni RM1221, 1777831 bp, NC_003912
C. jejuni subsp. doylei 269.97, 1845106 bp, NC_009707
C. jejuni subsp. jejuni 81-176, 1616554 bp, NC_008787
C. jejuni subsp. jejuni 81116, 1628115 bp, NC_009839
C. jejuni subsp. jejuni NCTC 11168, 1641481 bp, NC_002163
Plasmids:
C. jejuni subsp. jejuni 81-176 pVir, 37473 bp, NC_008770
Related publications:
Parkhill J, et al., 2000. The genome sequence of the food-borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni reveals hypervariable sequences. Nature 403(6770):665-668.
Fouts DE, et al., 2005. Major structural differences and novel potential virulence mechanisms from the genomes of multiple campylobacter species. PLoS Biol. 3(1):e15.
Pearson BM, et al., 2007. The complete genome sequence of Campylobacter jejuni strain 81116 (NCTC11828). J Bacteriol 189(22):8402-8403.
Figures:
Colonization and invasion strategies of C. jejuni. (From: van Putten JP, et al., 2009. Molecular mechanisms of Campylobacter infection. Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 337:197-229.).

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