Campylobacter

Campylobacter jejuni

I. Organism Information

A. Taxonomy Information

1. Species

a. Campylobacter jejuni

i. Taxonomy ID: 197

ii. Description:

Campylobacter jejuni is a member of the epsilon group of proteobacteria and is Gram-negative, microaerophilic and motile. C. jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial food-borne diarrheal disease throughout the world (1). Humans acquire the organisms by eating undercooked chicken or drinking contaminated milk and water. During the course of infection, hosts show symptoms of fever, cramps, and bloody diarrhea. Campylobacter is an invasive pathogen that penetrates the lining of the small intestine. Upon entry, it excretes toxins that destroy the gut mucosa.

Public health awareness of Campylobacter infections has evolved over more than a century. In 1886, Escherich observed organisms resembling campylobacters in stool samples of children with diarrhea. In 1913, McFaydean and Stockman identified campylobacters. In 1957, King described the isolation of related Vibrio from blood samples of children with diarrhea, and in 1972, clinical microbiologists in Belgium first isolated campylobacters from stool samples of patients with diarrhea. The development of selective growth media in the 1970s permitted more laboratories to test stool specimens for Campylobacter, which were soon recognized as common human pathogens (2).

iii. Variants

Campylobacter jejuni RM1221
Taxonomy ID: 195099
Parent: Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni subsp. doylei
Taxonomy ID: 32021
Parent: Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni NCTC 11168
Taxonomy ID: 192222
Parent: Campylobacter jejuni

B. Lifecycle and Morphology

1. One stage

a. Shape:

Vibriod, slender, 0.2-0.5 μm by 0.5-5 μm, may have more than one helical turn. They may also appear S-shaped or gull-wing-shaped when two cells form short chains. Cells in old cutures may form spherical forms (coccoid bodies) (3).

b. Picture:

SEM image of Campylobacter jejuni with size bar by Janice Carr, CDC

C. Genome Summary

1. Genome of Campylobacter jejuni

a. Chromosome of Campylobacter jejuni RM1221

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_003912

ii. Size: 1,777,831 bp

b. Chromosome of Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni NCTC 11168

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_002163
ii. Size: 1,641,481 bp

c. Plasmid pCJ419

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_004997

ii. Size: 4,013 bp

d. Plasmid pVir

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_005012
ii. Size: 37,468 bp
iii. Description: This is a circular plasmid of Campylobacter jejuni strain 81-176 and has a GC content of 26%. A total of 83% of the plasmid represented coding information, and all but 2 of the 54 predicted open reading frames were encoded on the same DNA strand. Seven genes were found to be orthologs of type IV secretion proteins found in Helicobacter pylori. Seven other pVir-encoded proteins showed significant similarities to proteins encoded by the plasticity zones of either H. pylori J99 or 26695. Mutational analyses of 19 plasmid genes identified 5 additional genes that affect in vitro invasion of intestinal epithelial cells (4).

e. Plasmid pTet

i. Genbank Accession Number: NC_006135
ii. Size: 45,205 bp

II. References

1.  Parkhill J, Wren BW, Mungall K, Ketley JM, Churcher C, Basham D, Chillingworth T, Davies RM, Feltwell T, Holroyd S, Jagels K, Karlyshev AV, Moule S, Pallen MJ, Penn CW, Quail MA, Rajandream MA, Rutherford KM, van Vliet AH, Whitehead S, Barrell BG. (2000) The genome sequence of the food-borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni reveals hypervariable sequences. Nature 403(6770):665-668.

2.  Altekruse SF, Stern NJ, Fields PI, Swerdlow DL. (1999) Campylobacter jejuni—An Emerging Foodborne Pathogen. Emerging Infectious Diseases 5(1): 28-35.

3.  Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 9th edition. John G. Holt, Noel R. Krieg, Peter H.A. Sneath, James T. Staley, and Stanley T. Williams, editors. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1994, p. 41

4.  Bacon DJ, Alm RA, Hu L, Hickey TE, Ewing CP, Batchelor RA, Trust TJ, Guerry P. (2002) DNA sequence and mutational analyses of the pVir plasmid of Campylobacter jejuni 81-176. Infect Immun. 70(11): 6242-6250.

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