The Genus Campylobacter

Abstract

IntroductionThe genus Campylobacter comprises a diverse group of Gram-negative bacteria, which colonize the mucosal surfaces of the intestinal tracts, oral cavities, or urogenital tracts of a wide range of bird and animal hosts. Both commensals and pathogens are represented within this group of organisms.PhylogenyThe genus Campylobacter is placed in the Epsilonproteobacteria (Trust et al., 1994) and now classified in the bacterial family Campylobacteraceae (Vandamme and De Ley, 1991a), which includes the genera Campylobacter, Arcobacter and Sulfurospirillum (formally known as free-living campylobacters) and certain misclassified Bacteroides species. The closest genetically related genera are Helicobacter and Wolinella, which together form the family, Helicobacteraceae (Vandamme, 2000).Currently, the genus Campylobacter comprises 15 species (one of which is still disputed) and 6 subspecies: Campylobacter coli, C. concisus, C. curvus, C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. fetus ...