Cj1496c encodes a Campylobacter jejuni glycoprotein that influences invasion of human epithelial cells and colonization of the chick gastrointestinal tract

Campylobacter jejuni has an N-linked protein glycosylation pathway that is required for efficient cell invasion and chick gastrointestinal colonization by the microbe. In this study, we constructed insertion mutants of 22 putative glycoprotein genes and examined the ability of each to invade the human intestinal epithelial cell line INT-407. Among the mutants tested, one carrying an insertion in Cj1496c was defective for invasion into INT-407 cells; this defect was also observed in an in-frame deletion mutant of Cj1496c (Delta Cj1496c). The Delta Cj1496c mutant C jejuni also showed a reduced ability to colonize chick ceca. Site-specific mutagenesis combined with Western blot analysis suggested that the Cj1496c protein is glycosylated at N73 and N169. However, the Delta Cj1496c mutant expressing a nonglycosylated form of Cj1496c exhibited levels of invasion and colonization equivalent to those of the parent strain, suggesting that glycans are not directly involved in the function of Cj1496c.