AUTHOR=Irons Jessica , Sacher Jessica C. , Szymanski Christine M. , Downs Diana M. 

TITLE=Cj1388 Is a RidA Homolog and Is Required for Flagella Biosynthesis and/or Function in Campylobacter jejuni

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02058

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.02058

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Campylobacter jejuni</italic> is the leading bacterial cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide and thus significant to public health. <italic>C. jejuni</italic> primarily lives in the gastrointestinal tracts of poultry and can contaminate meat during processing. Despite a small genome, the metabolic plasticity of <italic>C. jejuni</italic> allows proliferation in chicken ceca and mammalian host intestines, and survival in environments with a variety of temperatures, pH, osmotic conditions, and nutrient availabilities. The exact mechanism of <italic>C. jejuni</italic> infection is unknown, however, virulence requires motility. Our data suggest the <italic>C. jejuni</italic> RidA homolog, Cj1388, plays a role in flagellar biosynthesis, regulation, structure, and/or function and, as such is expected to influence virulence of the organism. Mutants lacking <italic>cj1388</italic> have defects in motility, autoagglutination, and phage infectivity under the conditions tested. Comparison to the RidA paradigm from <italic>Salmonella enterica</italic> indicates the phenotypes of the <italic>C. jejuni cj1388</italic> mutant are likely due to the inhibition of one or more pyridoxal 5′-phosphate-dependent enzymes by the reactive enamine 2-aminoacrylate.</p>