title: Comparative genomics and genome biology of invasive Campylobacter jejuni.
abstract: Campylobacter jejuni is a major pathogen in bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and can cause bacteremia in severe cases. C. jejuni is highly structured into clonal lineages of which the ST677CC lineage has been overrepresented among C. jejuni isolates derived from blood. In this study, we characterized the genomes of 31 C. jejuni blood isolates and 24 faecal isolates belonging to ST677CC in order to study the genome biology related to C. jejuni invasiveness. We combined the genome analyses with phenotypical evidence on serum resistance which was associated with phase variation of wcbK; a GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase involved in capsular biosynthesis. We also describe the finding of a Type III restriction-modification system unique to the ST-794 sublineage. However, features previously considered to be related to pathogenesis of C. jejuni were either absent or disrupted among our strains. Our results refine the role of capsule features associated with invasive disease and accentuate the possibility of methylation and restriction enzymes in the potential of C. jejuni to establish invasive infections. Our findings underline the importance of studying clinically relevant well-characterized bacterial strains in order to understand pathogenesis mechanisms important in human infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: C P A
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Skarp
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Institute of Biomedicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Akinrinade
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: A J E
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ellström
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Myllykangas
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rautelin
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D055028:Comparative Genomic Hybridization; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D065288:Serogroup; D044967:Serum / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial