title: Prevalence of Type VI Secretion System in Spanish Campylobacter jejuni Isolates.
abstract: Infections from Campylobacter jejuni pose a serious public health problem and are now considered the leading cause of foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis throughout the world. Sequencing of C. jejuni genomes has previously allowed a number of loci to be identified, which encode virulence factors that aid survival and pathogenicity. Recently, a Type VI secretion system (T6SS) consisting of 13 conserved genes was described in C. jejuni strains and recognised to promote pathogenicity and adaptation to the environment. In this study, we determined the presence of this T6SS in 63 Spanish C. jejuni isolates from the food chain and urban effluents using whole-genome sequencing. Our findings demonstrated that nine (14%) strains harboured the 13 ORFs found in prototype strain C. jejuni 108. Further studies will be necessary to determine the prevalence and importance of T6SS-positive C. jejuni strains.
authors.affiliation: VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Madrid, Spain.|Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ugarte-Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Stabler
authors.affiliation: VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.affiliation: VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Porrero
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Wren
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dorrell
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gundogdu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D013030:Spain; D000069376:Type VI Secretion Systems / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000069376:Type VI Secretion Systems
keywords: Campylobacter; Spain; T6SS; virulence