engleski

Campylobacter jejuni - Heat Stress Response and Virulence

Campylobacters have emerged nowadays as the leading cause of gastroenteritis in humans who are usually infected through consumption of undercooked poultry meat. As bacterial stress- response systems provide a crucial link between bacterial survival under various environmental conditions and the ability of the organism to cause disease, we examined Campylobacter jejuni heat-stress response in vitro, after exposure to 48 °C and 55 °C. In vivo modulation of its pathogenicity was also investigated, using BALB/c mice, intravenously infected with stressed C. jejuni. Regardless of the bacterial growth phase, their viability in vitro was reduced after exposure to 55°C. This correlated with the decreased virulence properties seen in vivo. Heat stress at 48°C elicited transition to more resistant bacterial forms, independent of morphological changes or appearance of shorter spiral and coccoid cells. This treatment did not cause marked changes in bacterial virulence properties in vivo. The results indicate that C. jejuni characteristics and pathogenicity in response to heat stress differ depending on temperature. Findings relating C. jejuni response to stresses used during food processing, and modulation of its virulence, are important to provide a better understanding its contamination and infective cycle and thus contribute to improved safety in food production chain.

Campylobacter jejuni ; heat-stress response ; virulence ; food safety

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