Aim: To investigate and compare the inherent resistance of 40 Salmonella serovars to heat, irradiation and highpressure stress. Methods and Results: D 10 values for each of the three stresses were calculated for four serovars, chosen as representatives from a catalogue of 40. Based on these results, conditions for each stress were defined, which produced, on average, a three-log reduction in viability. Heat stress (57°C for 13 min), high-pressure stress (350 MPa for 10 min at 20°C) and irradiation stress (1AE5 kGy at 20°C) were applied to all 40 serovars in the collection. Injury and loss of viability for all serovars were determined. Conclusions: Cluster analysis identified five groupings of isolates in terms of resistance to the applied stresses. The independent response of each isolate to all three stresses suggests that there is no relationship between resistances. Significance and Impact of the Study: Each serovar is inherently different. For modelling of real-life food preservation processing the most resistant isolates for that process should be chosen. The results also emphasize the importance of including multiple stress resistant strains when food preservation systems apply multiple stresses.

Human small and large intestinal tissue was used to study the interaction of Campylobacter jejuni with its target tissue. The strain used for the study was 81-176 (+pVir). Tissue was processed for scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and by immunohistochemistry for light microscopy. Organisms adhered to the apical surface of ileal tissues at all time points in large numbers, in areas where mucus was present and in distinct groups. Microcolony formation was evident at 1–2 h, with bacteria adhering to mucus on the tissue surface and to each other by flagellar interaction. At later time points (3–4 h), biofilm formation on ileal tissue was evident. Flagellar mutants did not form microcolonies or biofilms in tissue. Few organisms were observed in colonic tissue, with organisms present but not as abundant as in the ileal tissue. This study shows that C. jejuni 81-176 can form microcolonies and biofilms on human intestinal tissue and that this may be an essential step in its ability to cause diarrhoea in man.

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Salmonella enterica has two pathogenicity islands encoding separate type three secretion systems (T3SS). Proteins secreted through these systems facilitate invasion and survival. After entry, Salmonella reside within a membrane bound vacuole, the Salmonella containing vacuole (SCV), where translocation of a second set of effectors by the Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) T3SS is initiated. SPI-2 secretion in vitro can be induced by conditions that mimic the Salmonella containing vacuole. Utilising high-throughput mass spectrometry, we mapped the surface-attached proteome of S. Typhimurium SL1344 grown in vitro under SPI-2-inducing conditions and identified 108 proteins; using secretion signal prediction software, 43% of proteins identified contained a signal sequence. Of these proteins, 13 were known secreted effector proteins including SPI-2 effector proteins SseB, SseC, SseD, SseL, PipB2 and SteC, although surprisingly five were SPI-1 proteins, SipA, SipB, SipC, SipD and SopD, while 2 proteins SteA and SlrP are secreted by both T3SSs. This is the first in vitro study to demonstrate dual secretion of SPI-1 and SPI-2 proteins by S. Typhimurium and demonstrates the potential of high-throughput LC-ESI/MS/MS sequencing for the identification of novel proteins, providing a platform for subsequent comparative proteomic analysis, which should greatly assist understanding of the pathogenesis and inherent variation between serovars of Salmonella and ultimately help towards development of novel control strategies.