Clinical Microbiology: Open Access

Campylobacter jejuni and chicken colonization: Different strains, different abilities

6^th Clinical Microbiology Conference

October 20-22, 2016 Rome, Italy

Alexandre Thibodeau, Philippe Fravalo, Eduardo Taboada and Ann Letellier

University of Montreal, Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Clin Microbiol

Abstract:

Campylobacter jejuni is a food borne pathogen mainly associated to chickens, reaching caecal concentration up to 109 CFU/g. Scarce reports mention clinical signs associated to C. jejuni chicken colonization, making it a bacteria acting like a commensal. One aspect of our work focuses on the characterization of the ability of C. jejuni to colonize the chicken caecum. C. jejuni chicken strains were characterized for their ability to autoagglutinate, to be attracted to mucins and to adhere or invade chicken primary caecal cells; these phenotypes having individually been linked to the ability of strains to colonize chickens. In parallel, a microarray was developed to screens the strains for genes that could be linked to colonization. Strains were also typed by comparative genomic fingerprinting. We confirmed in vivo that strains possessing different phenotypes also possessed different abilities to compete for the colonization of the chicken gut. This ability could be associated with genes such as genes coding for arsenical resistance. Representative strains possessing the best competition abilities were also used in a series of in vivo chicken studies to assess the efficiency of control methods to lower C. jejuni chicken caecal loads. Limited results were obtained, showing the complexity of the intestinal microbial ecosystem. The effect of the colonization of these strains on the chicken microbiota was also assessed and we observed small disturbance of some bacterial populations. Our strain collection is currently being sequenced and further characterized in vitro to deepen our understanding of C. jejuni chicken colonization.

Biography :

Alexandre Thibodeau has completed his PhD at the University of Montreal, Canada. He is currently pursuing Postdoctoral studies at the NSERC and is an Industrial Research Chair in Meat Safety in Dr. Ann Letellier Laboratory at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Montreal, Canada. He is a Specialist of Campylobacter jejuni and his Postdoctoral research focuses mainly of C. jejuni and the chicken microbiome.

Email: alexandre.thibodeau@live.ca