Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis is a leading cause of human food-borne illness that is mainly associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry meat and eggs. To cause infection, S. Enteritidis is known to use two type III secretion systems, which are encoded on two salmonella pathogenicity islands, SPI-1 and SPI-2, the first of which is thought to play a major role in invasion and bacterial uptake. In order to study the role of SPI-1 in the colonization of chicken, we constructed deletion mutants affecting the complete SPI-1 region (40 kb) and the invG gene. Both ⌬SPI-1 and ⌬invG mutant strains were impaired in the secretion of SipD, a SPI-1 effector protein. In vitro analysis using polarized human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) revealed that both mutant strains were less invasive than the wild-type strain. A similar observation was made when chicken cecal and small intestinal explants were coinfected with the wild-type and ⌬SPI-1 mutant strains. Oral challenge of 1-week-old chicken with the wild-type or ⌬SPI-1 strains demonstrated that there was no difference in chicken cecal colonization. However, systemic infection of the liver and spleen was delayed in birds that were challenged with the ⌬SPI-1 strain. These data demonstrate that SPI-1 facilitates systemic infection but is not essential for invasion and systemic spread of the organism in chickens.

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis is a leading causative agent of gastroenteritis in humans. This pathogen also colonizes the intestinal tracts of poultry and can spread systemically in chickens. Transfer to humans usually occurs through undercooked or improperly handled poultry meat or eggs. The bacterial twin-arginine transport (Tat) pathway is responsible for the translocation of folded proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane. In order to study the role of the Tat system in the infection and colonization of chickens by Salmonella Enteritidis, we constructed chromosomal deletion mutants of the tatB and tatC genes, which are essential components of the Tat translocon. We observed that the tat mutations affected bacterial cell morphology, motility, and sensitivity to albomycin, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and EDTA. In addition, the mutant strains showed reduced invasion of polarized Caco-2 cells. The wild-type phenotype was restored in all our Salmonella Enteritidis tat mutants by introducing episomal copies of the tatABC genes. When tested in chickens by use of a Salmonella Enteritidis ⌬tatB strain, the Tat system inactivation did not substantially affect cecal colonization, but it delayed systemic infection. Taken together, our data demonstrated that the Tat system plays a role in Salmonella Enteritidis pathogenesis.

Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) has been identified as a significant cause of salmonellosis in humans. Salmonella pathogenicity islands 1 and 2 (SPI-1 and SPI-2) each encode a specialized type III secretion system (T3SS) that enables Salmonella to manipulate host cells at various stages of the invasion/infection process. For the purposes of our studies we used a chicken isolate of S. Enteritidis (Sal18). In one study, we orally co-challenged 35-day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens with two bacterial strains per group. The control group received two versions of the wild-type strain Sal18: Sal18 attTn7 : : tet and Sal18 attTn7 : : cat, while the other two groups received the wild-type strain (Sal18 attTn7 : : tet) and one of two mutant strains. From this study, we concluded that S. Enteritidis strains deficient in the SPI-1 and SPI-2 systems were outcompeted by the wild-type strain. In a second study, groups of SPF chickens were challenged at 1 week of age with four different strains: the wild-type strain, and three other strains lacking either one or both of the SPI-1 and SPI-2 regions. On days 1 and 2 post-challenge, we observed a reduced systemic spread of the SPI-2 mutants, but by day 3, the systemic distribution levels of the mutants matched that of the wild-type strain. Based on these two studies, we conclude that the S. Enteritidis SPI-2 T3SS facilitates invasion and systemic spread in chickens, although alternative mechanisms for these processes appear to exist.

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Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (Salmonella Enteritidis) is one of the major causes of bacterial food-borne illness in humans. During the course of infection, Salmonella Enteritidis uses 2 type III secretion systems (T3SS), one of which is encoded on Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1). SPI-1 plays a major role in the invasion process. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of sera against the SPI-1 T3SS components on invasion in vitro using polarized human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2). Antisera to SipD protected Caco-2 cells against entry of wild-type Salmonella Enteritidis. On the other hand, sera against InvG, PrgI, SipA, SipC, SopB, SopE, and SopE2 did not affect Salmonella Enteritidis entry. To illustrate the specificity of anti-SipD mediated inhibition, SipD-specific antibodies were depleted from the serum. Antiserum depleted of SipD-specific antibodies lost its capacity to inhibit Salmonella Enteritidis entry. Thus, we demonstrate for the first time that antibodies against the SPI-1 needle tip protein (SipD) inhibit Salmonella Enteritidis invasion and that the SipD protein may be an important target in blocking SPI-1 mediated virulence of Salmonella Enteritidis.