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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Produce Safety and Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #149434
Title: GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE LIPOOLIGOSACCHARIDE BIOSYNTHETIC LOCI OF THE MUCOSAL PATHOGEN, CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI

Author
item Parker, Craig
item Horn, Sharon
item GILBERT, MICHEL - NAT. RES. COUNCIL CANADA

Submitted to: International Conference on Microbial Genomes
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2002
Publication Date: 1/27/2003
Citation: PARKER,C., HORN,S.T., GILBERT,M., GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE LIPOOLIGOSACCHARIDE BIOSYNTHETIC LOCI OF THE MUCOSAL PATHOGEN, CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MICROBIAL GENOMES.

Interpretive Summary: The foodborne bacterial pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is the most common cause of acute bacterial gastroenteritis in humans and certain types are also associated with the development of Guillain-Barré and Miller-Fisher syndromes, two diseases that affect the peripheral nervous system. Localized on the cell-surface of C. jejuni is a complex structure called lipooligosaccharide (LOS). LOS exhibits structural variability between strains and certain structures are the cause of the neurological disorders. The variability of LOS can be assessed by determining what genes that are involved in the synthesis of LOS are present or absent. In this scientific study, we determined the gene content for a complete set of reference types of C. jejuni and a large group of human and animal related isolates.

Technical Abstract: The cell-surface localized lipooligosaccharide (LOS) of C. jejuni exhibits structural variability between strains due to distinct genetic mechanisms. Until recently, these structures were believed to be the basis of the most common subtyping scheme for C. jejuni, the Penner serotyping method. In this study, we have compared the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) biosynthesis loci from 17 Campylobacter jejuni strains. From the genetic organization of these loci, we have classified the loci into six classes, three of which produce sialylated LOS, as described previously (Gilbert et al. 2002. J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 277, Issue 1, 327-337). LOS structural variability can be inferred from the DNA sequence and verified via PAGE of LOS samples. Further, we have developed PCR-based assays based on LOS genes to genetically subtype 46 Penner serotype strains of C. jejuni. The relationship between LOS and Penner serotyping will be discussed.