Molecular characterization of Campylobacter jejuni clones: a basis for epidemiologic investigation

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 8; no. 9; pp. 949 - 955
• Main Authors: Dingle, Kate E, Colles, Frances M, Ure, Roisin, Wagenaar, Jaap A, Duim, Birgitta, Bolton, Frederick J, Fox, Andrew J, Wareing, David R A, Maiden, Martin C J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.09.2002; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Campylobacter; Campylobacter infections; Campylobacter Infections - epidemiology; Campylobacter Infections - microbiology; Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter jejuni - classification; Campylobacter jejuni - genetics; Campylobacter jejuni - isolation & purification; clonal complex; Clone cells; FlaA protein; Flagellin - genetics; Genes, Bacterial - genetics; Genetic aspects; Genetic Variation - genetics; Genotype; Humans; Membrane Proteins - genetics; molecular epidemiology; multilocus sequence typing; Physiological aspects; Sequence Analysis, DNA; United States; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid0809.020122

A total of 814 isolates of the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni were characterized by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and analysis of the variation of two cell-surface components: the heat-stable (HS) serotyping antigen and the flagella protein FlaA short variable region. We identified 379 combinations of the MLST loci (sequence types) and 215 combinations of the cell-surface components among these isolates, which had been obtained from human disease, animals, food, and the environment. Despite this diversity, 748 (92%) of the isolates belonged to one of 17 clonal complexes, 6 of which contained many (318, 63%) of the human disease isolates. Several clonal complexes exhibited associations with isolation source or particular cell-surface components; however, the latter were poorly predictive of clonal complex. These data demonstrate that the clonal complex, as defined by MLST, is an epidemiologically relevant unit for both long and short-term investigations of C. jejuni epidemiology.