Differences in the Transcriptomic Response of Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter lari to Heat Stress

Abstract

Campylobacter spp. are one of the most important food-borne pathogens, which are quite susceptible to environmental or technological stressors compared to other zoonotic bacteria. This might be due to the lack of many stress response mechanisms described in other bacteria. Nevertheless, Campylobacter is able to survive in the environment and food products. Although some aspects of the heat stress response in Campylobacter jejuni are already known, information about the stress response in other Campylobacter species are still scarce. In this study, the stress response of Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter lari to elevated temperatures (46 • C) was investigated by survival assays and whole transcriptome analysis. None of the strains survived at 46 • C for more than 8 h and approximately 20% of the genes of C. coli RM2228 and C. lari RM2100 were differentially expressed. The transcriptomic profiles showed enhanced gene expression of several chaperones like dnaK, groES, groEL, and clpB in both strains, indicating a general involvement in the heat stress response within the Campylobacter species. However, the pronounced differences in the expression pattern between C. coli and C. lari suggest that stress response mechanisms described for one Campylobacter species might be not necessarily transferable to other Campylobacter species.

RNase III-mediated processing of atrans-acting bacterial sRNA and itscis-encoded antagonist

“…Since CJnc180 expression is conserved in C. jejuni and C. coli strains (Riedel et al, 2020;Dugar et al, 2013) but was not required for CJnc190 processing, its function remained unclear.…”

Genome-wide insights into population structure and host specificity ofCampylobacter jejuni

“…Variation of predicted aa sequences possibly associated with a host–generalist lifestyle of specific C. jejuni lineages were, for instance, identified for the cell division protein encoded by fts X. Recent work by Riedel et al showed that fts X transcription is downregulated in Campylobacter lari after exposure to heat stress [84], possibly indicating certain allelic variants may differ with respect to their stress response. As mentioned earlier, allelic variants may have evolved individually in both lineages (CC-45 and CC-21/CC-48), since the recombination analysis suggests a limited number of recombination events between BAPS clusters 8 and 2, 3 and 6.…”

The Role of ClpB in Bacterial Stress Responses and Virulence

“…E. coli, F. tularensis , Helicobacter pylori, Pseudomonas putida, Campylobacter coli , and Campylobacter lari are some of the pathogenic bacteria for which the role of ClpB in thermotolerance has been studied ( Squires et al, 1991 ; Allan et al, 1998 ; Meibom et al, 2008 ; Ito et al, 2014 ; Alam et al, 2018 , 2020 ; Riedel et al, 2020 ). F. tularensis , a highly infectious pathogen and a category A bioterrorism agent, is the etiological agent of the zoonotic disease tularemia.…”

“…Transcriptomic profiles of C. coli and C. lari at elevated temperatures showed enhanced gene expression of clpB and other genes encoding chaperones such as dnaK , groES , and groEL , indicating that multiple chaperones, including ClpB, play a vital role in the thermotolerance of Campylobacter spp. ( Riedel et al, 2020 ).…”