Genetic and Phenotypic Variation of Campylobacter jejuni NCTC11168 Caused by flhA Mutation during Laboratory Passage

• Published in: Biomedical and environmental sciences Vol. 36; no. 7; pp. 604 - 613
• Main Authors: Chen, Xiao Li, Liang, Hao, Guo, Peng Bo, Gu, Yi Xin, Wang, Jia Qi, Wang, Hai Rui, Zhou, Gui Lan, Shao, Zhu Jun, Zhang, Jian Zhong, Zhang, Mao Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Department of Microbiology,School of Public Health,Cheeloo College of Medicine,Shandong University,Jinan 250100,Shandong,China%State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control,National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention,Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Beijing 102206,China 20.07.2023; Shandong First Medical University,Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences,Jinan 250000,Shandong,China; State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control,National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention,Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Beijing 102206,China%State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control,National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention,Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Beijing 102206,China
• Subjects: Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Biological Variation, Population; Campylobacter jejuni - genetics; Mutation; Comparative genomics; Phenotypic variation; Campylobacter jejuni; flhA
• ISSN: 0895-3988; 2214-0190
• DOI: 10.3967/bes2023.088

NCTC11168 is commonly used as a standard strain for flagellar biosynthesis research. In this report, two distinguished phenotypic isolates (CJ1Z, mutant strain, lawn; CJ2S, complemented strain, normal colony) appeared during laboratory passages for NCTC11168. Phenotypic assessments, including motility plates, transmission electron microscopy, biofilm formation assay, autoagglutination assay, and genome re-sequencing for these two isolates (CJ1Z, mutant strain; CJ2S, complemented strain) were carried out in this study. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the flagellum was lost in CJ1Z. Phenotypic assessments and genome sequencing of the two isolates were performed in this study. The capacity for biofilm formation, colony auto-agglutination, and isolate motility was reduced in the mutant CJ1Z. Comparative genomic analysis indicated a unique native nucleotide insertion in flhA (nt, 2154) that caused the I719Y and I720Y mutations and early truncation in flhA. FlhA has been found to influence the expression of flagella in . To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the function of the C-terminal of this protein.