Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli originated from chicken carcasses modulate their transcriptome to translate virulence genes in human cells

Abstract

The aim was to determine the spread of genetically similar profiles of Campylobacter in chicken carcasses and evaluate their ability to produce transcripts for ciaB, dnaJ, p19 and sodB genes, before and after cultivation in Caco-2 cells. The strains used were isolated from 420 samples of chicken carcasses chilled and frozen ready for marketing. The species were identified by PCR-multiplex, the phylogeny was determined by RAPD-PCR and the presence of transcripts was performed by RT-PCR. We identified 74 (17.6%) of Campylobacter strains, being 55 (74.3%) C. jejuni and 19 (25.7%) C. coli. The phylogenetic relationship demonstrated heterogeneity between isolates of the same species, with absence of clones, indicating the high level of diversity of circulating genotypes. The gene transcription showed conflicting results before and after the culture in Caco-2 cell, so that before cultivation isolates showed greater capacity to transcribe genes related to survival and after the interaction with human cells, the strains showed higher potential to transcribe genes associated with virulence. The result of this study contributes to the understanding of how these seemingly fragile microorganisms are the most prevalent bacterial agents in human gastroenteritis.