An official website of the United States government.
The investigators will determine what effect phagosome acidity has on the survival of C. jejuni. The maturity of the C. jejuni-phagosome will be determined. Inhibitors to the formation of the respiratory burst and precursors for nitrous oxide production will be used to abrogate the bactericidal activity of the phagosome. Finally, using the newborn pig model, the investigators will examine the pathogenicity of both the sodB and katA mutant.
<P>
Campylobacter jejuni is considered responsible for 3 million cases of acute gastroenteritis per year, making it the single most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the United States. </p>
<P>
Few factors associated with C. jejuni virulence have been identified. Progress in this important research area has been hampered by the lack of genetic tools (transposons, transduction systems) to examine or identify virulence factors. To date, roughly 90 C. jejuni genes have been characterized, only six of which are related to virulence.</p>
<P>
Therefore,the construction of the katA mutant and the demonstration that catalase production is important in the survival of the organism in phagocytic cells is a major step toward understanding mechanisms this pathogen uses to successfully interact with the host and cause disease.</p>