Of all known Salmonella enterica serovars, S. Infantis is one of the most commonly isolated and has been recently emerging worldwide. To understand the recent emergence of S. Infantis in Israel, we performed extensive comparative analyses between pre-emergent and the clonal emergent S. Infantis populations. We demonstrate the fixation of adaptive mutations in the DNA gyrase (gyrA) and nitroreductase (nfsA) genes, conferring resistance to quinolones and nitrofurans, respectively, and the carriage of an emergent-specific plasmid, designated pESI. This self-transferred episome is a mosaic megaplasmid (∼280 kb), which increases bacterial tolerance to environmental mercury (mer operon) and oxidative stress, and provides further resistance to tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, most likely due to the presence of tetRA, sulI and dfrA genes respectively. Moreover, pESI carries the yersiniabactin siderophore system and two novel chaperone-usher fimbriae. In vitro studies established that pESI conjugation into a plasmidless S. Infantis strain results in superior biofilm formation, adhesion and invasion into avian and mammalian host cells. In vivo mouse infections demonstrated higher pathogenicity and increased intestinal inflammation caused by an S. Infantis strain harboring pESI compared with the plasmidless parental strain. Our results indicate that the presence of pESI that was found only in the emergent population of S. Infantis in Israel contributes significantly to antimicrobials tolerance and pathogenicity of its carrier. It is highly likely that pESI plays a key role in the successful spread of the emergent clone that replaced the local S. Infantis community in the short time of only 2-3 years.

Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis is one of the prevalent salmonellae worldwide. Recently, we showed that the emergence of S. Infantis in Israel was facilitated by the acquisition of a unique megaplasmid (pESI) conferring multidrug resistance and increased virulence phenotypes. Here we elucidate the ecology, transmission properties, and regulation of pESI. We show that despite its large size (~280 kb), pESI does not impose a significant metabolic burden in vitro and that it has been recently fixed in the domestic S. Infantis population. pESI conjugation and the transcription of its pilus (pil) genes are inhibited at the ambient temperature (27°C) and by ≥1% bile but increased under temperatures of 37 to 41°C, oxidative stress, moderate osmolarity, and the microaerobic conditions characterizing the intestinal environment of warm-blooded animals. The pESI-encoded protein TraB and the oxygen homeostasis regulator Fnr were identified as transcriptional regulators of pESI conjugation. Using the mouse model, we show that following S. Infantis infection, pESI can be horizontally transferred to the gut microbiota, including to commensal Escherichia coli strains. Possible transfer, but not persistence, of pESI was also observed into Gram-positive mouse microbiota species, especially Lactobacillus reuteri. Moreover, pESI was demonstrated to further disseminate from gut microbiota to S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, in the context of gastrointestinal infection. These findings exhibit the ability of a selfish clinically relevant megaplasmid to distribute to and from the microbiota and suggest an overlooked role of the microbiota as a reservoir of mobile genetic elements and intermediator in the spread of resistance and virulence genes between commensals and pathogenic bacteria.

Type III secretion systems (TTSSs) are employed by pathogens to translocate host cells with effector proteins, which are crucial for virulence. The dynamics of effector translocation, behavior of the translocating bacteria, translocation temporal order, and relative amounts of each of the translocated effectors are all poorly characterized. To address these issues, we developed a microscopy-based assay that tracks effector translocation. We used this assay alongside a previously described real-time population-based translocation assay, focusing mainly on enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and partly comparing it to Salmonella. We found that the two pathogens exhibit different translocation behaviors: in EPEC, a subpopulation that formed microcolonies carried out most of the translocation activity, while Salmonella executed protein translocation as planktonic bacteria. We also noted variability in host cell susceptibility, with some cells highly resistant to translocation. We next extended the study to determine the translocation dynamics of twenty EPEC effectors and found that all exhibited distinct levels of translocation efficiency. Further, we mapped the global effects of key TTSS-related components on TTSS activity. Our results provide a comprehensive description of the dynamics of the TTSS activity of EPEC and new insights into the mechanisms that control the dynamics.

Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis is one of the prevalent Salmonella serovars worldwide. Different emergent clones of S. Infantis were shown to acquire the pESI virulence-resistance megaplasmid affecting its ecology and pathogenicity. Here, we studied two previously uncharacterized pESI-encoded chaperone-usher fimbriae, named Ipf and Klf. While Ipf homologs are rare and were found only in S. enterica subspecies diarizonae and subspecies VII, Klf is related to the known K88-Fae fimbria and klf clusters were identified in seven S. enterica subspecies I serovars, harboring interchanging alleles of the fimbria major subunit, KlfG. Regulation studies showed that the klf genes expression is negatively and positively controlled by the pESI-encoded regulators KlfL and KlfB, respectively, and are activated by the ancestral leucine-responsive regulator (Lrp). ipf genes are negatively regulated by Fur and activated by OmpR. Furthermore, induced expression of both klf and ipf clusters occurs under microaerobic conditions and at 41°C compared to 37°C, in-vitro. Consistent with these results, we demonstrate higher expression of ipf and klf in chicks compared to mice, characterized by physiological temperature of 41.2°C and 37°C, respectively. Interestingly, while Klf was dispensable for S. Infantis colonization in the mouse, Ipf was required for maximal colonization in the murine ileum. In contrast to these phenotypes in mice, both Klf and Ipf contributed to a restrained infection in chicks, where the absence of these fimbriae has led to moderately higher bacterial burden in the avian host. Taken together, these data suggest that physiological differences between host species, such as the body temperature, can confer differences in fimbriome expression, affecting Salmonella colonization and other host-pathogen interplays.