Infection of poultry with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium poses a significant risk to public health through contamination of meat from infected animals. Vaccination has been proposed to control infections in chickens. However, the vaccines are currently largely empirical, and our understanding of the mechanisms that underpin immune clearance and protection in avian salmonellosis is not complete. In this study we describe the cytokine, chemokine, and antibody responses and cellular changes in primary and secondary infections of chickens with Salmonella serovar Typhimurium. Infection of 1-week-old chickens induced early expression of a macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP) family chemokine in the spleen and liver, followed by increased expression of gamma interferon accompanied by increased numbers of both CD4؉ and CD8 ؉ T cells and the formation of granuloma-like follicular lesions. This response correlated with a Th1-mediated clearance of the systemic infection. Primary infection also induced specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), IgG, and IgA antibody responses. In contrast to previously published studies performed with newly hatched chicks, the expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the gastrointestinal tract were not greatly increased following infection. However, significant expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor ␤4 was detected in the gut early in infection. Following secondary challenge, the birds were fully protected against systemic infection and showed a high level of protection against gastrointestinal colonization. Rapid expression of the MIP family chemokine and interleukin-6 was detected in the guts of these birds and was accompanied by an influx of lymphocytes. Increased levels of serum IgA-specific antibodies were also found following rechallenge. These findings suggest that cellular responses, particularly Th1 responses, play a crucial role in immune clearance in avian salmonellosis and that protection against rechallenge involves the rapid recruitment of cells to the gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, the high levels of inflammatory response found following Salmonella serovar Typhimurium infection of newly hatched chicks were not observed following infection of older birds (1 week old), in which the expression of regulatory cytokines appeared to limit inflammation.

Summary Based upon the recognition of antiviral compounds and single stranded viral RNA the Toll‐like receptors TLR7 and TLR8 are suggested to play a significant role in initiating antiviral immune responses. Here we report the molecular characterization of the chicken TLR7/8 loci which revealed an intact TLR7 gene and fragments of a TLR8‐like gene with a 6‐kilobase insertion containing chicken repeat 1 (CR1) retroviral‐like insertion elements. The chicken TLR7 gene encodes a 1047‐amino‐acid protein with 62% identity to human TLR7 and a conserved pattern of predicted leucine‐rich repeats. Highest levels of chicken TLR7 mRNA were detected in immune‐related tissues and cells, especially the spleen, caecal, tonsil and splenic B cells. Alternative spliced forms of TLR7 mRNA were identified in chicken, mouse and human and expressed in similar tissues and cell types to the major form of chicken TLR7. The chicken TLR7+ HD11 cell line and fresh splenocytes produced elevated levels of interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) mRNA after exposure to the agonists R848 and loxoribine. Interestingly, none of the TLR7 agonists stimulated increased type I interferon (IFN) mRNA whereas poly(I:C) (a TLR3 agonist) up‐regulated both chicken IFN‐α and chicken IFN‐β mRNA. In contrast, TLR7 agonists, particularly R848 and poly(U) stimulated up‐regulation of chicken IL‐1β, and chicken IL‐8 mRNAs more effectively than poly(I:C). Stimulation of chicken TLR7 with R848 was chloroquine sensitive, suggesting signalling within an endosomal compartment, as for mammalian TLR7. The deletion of TLR8 in galliforms, accompanied with the differential response after exposure to TLR7 agonists, offers insight into the evolution of vertebrate TLR function.

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A study was undertaken to investigate the mechanisms for biosurfactant-enhanced hexadecane uptake into Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Two strains of Ps. aeruginosa were studied, one producing rhamnolipids (PG201) and the other rhamnolipid de®cient (UO299). Rhamnolipids produced by PG201 acted to increase the solubility of nhexadecane in the culture medium (from 1Á84 to 22Á76 mg l À1 ). Rates of 14 C-n-hexadecane uptake and mineralization were higher in PG201 than in UO299. However, the degree of difference was lower than expected. Additional studies were carried out on the cell surface properties of the two strains. During growth on n-hexadecane, the cell surface hydrophobicity of both PG201 (50Á5%) and UO299 (33Á7%) increased compared with that observed in water-soluble growth substrates (7±8%). Studies were also carried out to ascertain any energy requirements for the transport of n-hexadecane into Ps. aeruginosa cells. The addition of CCCP (an inhibitor of cytochrome oxidase which thereby blocks oxidative phosphorylation) at a range of concentrations caused a marked decrease in nhexadecane uptake, indicating that n-hexadecane uptake in Ps. aeruginosa is an energydependent process. These studies support the hypothesis of alkane transport into microbial cells by direct contact with larger alkane droplets and by pseudosolubilization. Also, it appears that both mechanisms occur simultaneously.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a major component of the pattern recognition receptor repertoire that detect invading microorganisms and direct the vertebrate immune system to eliminate infection. In chickens, the differential biology of Salmonella serovars (systemic versus gut-restricted localization) correlates with the presence or absence of flagella, a known TLR5 agonist. Chicken TLR5 (chTLR5) exhibits conserved sequence and structural similarity with mammalian TLR5 and is expressed in tissues and cell populations of immunological and stromal origin. Exposure of chTLR5 ؉ cells to flagellin induced elevated levels of chicken interleukin-1␤ (chIL-1␤) but little upregulation of chIL-6 mRNA. Consistent with the flagellin-TLR5 hypothesis, an aflagellar Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium fliM mutant exhibited an enhanced ability to establish systemic infection. During the early stages of infection, the fliM mutant induced less IL-1␤ mRNA and polymorphonuclear cell infiltration of the gut. Collectively, the data represent the identification and functional characterization of a nonmammalian TLR5 and indicate a role in restricting the entry of flagellated Salmonella into systemic sites of the chicken.The pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) play a central role in the rapid initiation of host immune responses and the generic identification of an invading pathogen (36, 43) by recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have emerged as a major component of the vertebrate PRR repertoire. Upon activation, TLRs induce the expression of a wide range of immunoregulatory and effector molecules (41, 51) and maturation of immune cell types (1,3,11,24,50).A range of TLR genes has been identified in nonmammalian vertebrates including chicken (10, 18, 32) and fish (6,26,37). To date, avian orthologues of TLR2 and TLR4 have been characterized and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) with sequence homologies to TLR1, -6, or -10; TLR3; TLR5; and TLR7 have been identified (34, 48; our unpublished results). Two chicken TLR2 (chTLR2) molecules (type 1 and type 2) were identified that lie in a tandem arrangement within a genomic region expressing conserved synteny to mammals (10, 18). The chTLR4 gene was also demonstrated to lie in a region of conserved synteny and has been associated with susceptibility to systemic infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in young chickens (32). Collectively, these data indicate that a range of distinct TLR genes, orthologous to the mammalian TLR repertoire, were present before the divergence of birds and mammals over 300 million years ago.The observation that nonflagellated Salmonella enterica serovars (Gallinarum or Pullorum) typically cause more acute systemic infection than flagellated serovars (Typhimurium or Enteritidis) provoked our interest in chTLR5. Our working hypothesis was that TLR5-flagellin interactions contribute to the broad biology of Salmonella serovars in the chicken. We identified a chicken orthologue for TLR5, determined expression ...