Physiological Characterization of Campylobacter jejuni under Cold Stresses Conditions: Its Potential for Public Threat

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Campylobacter jejuni is the major cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide. Under stress conditions, C. jejuni can enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. We found that the C. jejuni was able to enter a VBNC state by prolonged incubation at 4C. The standard isolation methods using pre-enrichment steps in Bolton broth or Preston broth could not detect the VBNC cells in spiked chicken meat. The transcription levels of virulence-associated genes (flaA, flaB, cadF, ciaB, cdtA, cdtB and cdtC) were expressed in VBNC cells but in low levels. The VBNC cells retained the ability to invade Caco-2 human intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. In most cases, VBNC cells failed to resuscitate in Caco-2 cells, but in some experiments, they formed colonies after co-incubation with host cells. Collectively, C. jejuni enters into a VBNC state at 4C and the VBNC C. jejuni remains virulent which may possibly lead to disease in humans. C. jejuni in VBNC state is a potential concern for food safety.KEY WORDS: Campylobacter jejuni, resuscitation, viable but nonculturable state, virulence.

Quo vadis? — MonitoringCampylobacterin Germany

“…The results hint at a 3 log Campylobacter reduction when fresh carcasses are compared with fresh meat. We hypothesize that one of the major contributors for reduction of Campylobacter on meat versus carcasses might be an "apparent" reduction due to loss of culturable bacteria, as also observed by Chaisowwong et al [8]. Further analysis is needed to estimate the "true" reduction caused by death and/or removal of Campylobacter cells.…”

“…However, such bacterial suspensions are capable of infection in various animal models, from which spiral and culturable Campylobacter were reisolated [6,7]. Also, the invasion of human epithelial cells was shown using coccoids without capacity to grow on agar plates [8]. Hence, there is a clear discrepancy between the detection limit of Campylobacter by cultivation and its infectious potential, which constitutes a barrier for getting a realistic view about the transmission routes of this pathogen.…”

Improved Detection of Bacterial Pathogens in Patients Presenting with Gastroenteritis by Use of the EntericBio Real-Time Gastro Panel I Assay

“…The difficulty in culturing campylobacters may largely be attributed to the occurrence of isolates in a viable but noncultivable state. Cells in this state cannot be cultured on artificial media; however, they can remain virulent and retain the capability of invading intestinal cells (6). Therefore, the molecular detection of pathogenic Campylobacter spp.…”

“…It is especially important where culturebased pathogen detection is problematic or lacks sensitivity. The best example of this is the genus Campylobacter, certain members of which, such as C. jejuni, can remain viable but noncultivable (6), therefore producing false-negative results if detection is based solely on a culture. Moreover, some species which can cause gastroenteritis, such as C. upsaliensis, are unlikely to be correctly isolated and identified on common media (7).…”

Detection of Vibrio spp., Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp. among the frozen food samples employing enrichment culture technique

“…Distribution and preparation prior to consumption of such products lead to the onset of several disease outbreaks (15)(16)(17)(18). Bacterial pathogens a ifferent aeration speed on the formation of colony forming units due to the suggestive endogenous oxidative stress (22).…”