Prevalence of four virulence genes in Campylobacter jejuni determined by PCR and sequence analysis.
BACKGROUND
The presence of four virulence genes (racR, wlaN, cgtB, virB11) in 356 Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from confirmed clinical cases was examined by PCR and sequence analysis. The investigated genes were chosen on the basis of their variation in prevalence.


METHODS
The virulence genes were detected by PCR and the amplified products were submitted for sequence analysis.


RESULTS
The gene with the highest prevalence was racR (87.08%). virB was present in only 1.69% of the C. jejuni strains, and wlaN and cgtB were detected in 16.01% and 24.44%, respectively. Five strains associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome and Miller-Fischer syndrome out of the total of 356 (1.40%) were positive for cgtB.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that racR may encode factors necessary for bacterial pathogenicity in humans, while the roles of the other three genes remain ambiguous.
Kordinas
Vasilios
V
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Athens Medical School - Aeginition Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Nicolaou
Chryssoula
C
Ioannidis
Anastassios
A
Papavasileiou
Eleni
E
John Legakis
Nicolaos
N
Chatzipanagiotou
Stylianos
S
D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002648:Child; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D019846:Miller Fisher Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D037521:Virulence Factors