Campylobacter jejuni as a secondary colonizer of poultry biofilms.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine if survival of culturable Campylobacter jejuni outside the host was increased by entrapment in pre-established biofilms.


RESULTS
Campylobacter jejuni was inoculated into four biofilm populations isolated from poultry environments and cultured at three temperatures. Survival of culturable Camp. jejuni in some pre-established biofilms was extended vs survival of culturable Camp. jejuni in broth. But some biofilms were detrimental to survival of culturable Camp. jejuni. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis indicated differences in bacterial profiles depending on initial source and temperature of culturing, which may have had impacts on survival of culturable Camp. jejuni. Further investigation showed no evidence of interspecies cell signalling indicating that secondary colonization was only physical.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study show Camp. jejuni's attachment to surfaces is facilitated by pre-established biofilms and survival of culturable Camp. jejuni may be extended in some pre-established biofilms, but these biofilms do not fully explain long-term survival of culturable Camp. jejuni outside hosts.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides new information concerning survival of culturable Camp. jejuni outside the host and shows biofilms may be important in transmission and prevalence of Camp. jejuni.
Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. ihanning@uark.edu
I
I
Hanning
R
R
Jarquin
M
M
Slavik
D000818:Animals; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001483:Base Sequence; D018441:Biofilms; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D050296:Microbial Viability; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011200:Poultry / Q000382:microbiology*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*