Genomic differences between Campylobacter jejuni isolates identify surface membrane and flagellar function gene products potentially important for colonizing the chicken intestine

Campylobacter spp. are one of the leading bacterial etiologic agents of acute human gastroenteritis among industrialized countries. Poultry are implicated as a major source of the organism for human illness; however, the factors involved with colonization of poultry gastrointestinal systems remain unclear. Genomics and proteomics analyses were used to identify differences between poor- versus robust-colonizing Campylobacter jejuni isolates, 11168(GS) and A74/C, respectively. Sequence analyses of subtracted DNA resulted in A74/C-specifc genes similar to a dimethyl sulfoxide reductase, a serine protease, polysaccharide modification proteins, and restriction modification proteins. DNA microarray analyses were performed for comparison of A74/C to the complete genome sequences published for two C. jejuni. A total of 114 genes (7.1%) were determined absent from A74/C relative to those genomes. Additionally, proteomics was completed on both soluble and membrane protein extracts from 11168(GS) and A74/C. Variation in protein expression and physical characteristics such as pI was detected between the two isolates that included the major outer membrane protein, flagella, and aconitate hydratase. Several proteins including cysteine synthase and a Ni/Fe hydrogenase were determined to be differentially present between the two isolates. Finally, DNA hybridization analyses of 19 C. jejuni isolates recovered from chickens and humans worldwide over the past 20 years were performed to determine the distribution of a subset of differentially identified gene sequences.