title: Caenorhabditis elegans is a model host for Salmonella typhimurium.
abstract: The idea of using simple, genetically tractable host organisms to study the virulence mechanisms of pathogens dates back at least to the work of Darmon and Depraitère [1]. They proposed using the predatory amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum as a model host, an approach that has proved to be valid in the case of the intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila [2]. Research from the Ausubel laboratory has clearly established the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as an attractive model host for the study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis [3]. P. aeruginosa is a bacterium that is capable of infecting plants, insects and mammals. Other pathogens with a similarly broad host range have also been shown to infect C. elegans [3,4]. Nevertheless, the need to determine the universality of C. elegans as a model host, especially with regards pathogens that have a naturally restricted host specificity, has rightly been expressed [5]. We report here that the enterobacterium Salmonella typhimurium, generally considered to be a highly adapted pathogen with a narrow range of target hosts [6], is capable of infecting and killing C. elegans. Furthermore, mutant strains that exhibit a reduced virulence in mammals were also attenuated for their virulence in C. elegans, showing that the nematode may constitute a useful model system for the study of this important human pathogen.
authors: Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, INSERM/CNRS/Université de la Méditerranée, Case 906, 13288 Cedex 9,., Marseille, France.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Labrousse
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Chauvet
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Couillault
authors: C L
authors: CL
authors: Kurz
authors: J J
authors: JJ
authors: Ewbank
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology; D009154:Mutation; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D012480:Salmonella Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics