Salmonella typhi GIFUI0007·3 which lost a viaB locus on its chromosome became highly invasive in our previous study. To investigate the phenomenon, we controlled Vi expression in wild strain S. typhi GIFUloo07, and studied the invasive phenotype both in vitro and in vivo. When the wild strain of S. typhi was cultured in 300 mM NaCI containing Luria-Bertani broth (LBO), the expression of Vi antigen was suppressed, but secretion of invasion proteins (SipC, SipB and SipA) was increased. In this condition, wild strain S. typhi became highly invasive toward both epithelial cells and M cells of rat Peyer's patches. When GIFUlOOO7 was cultured under conditions of high osmolarity, the bacteria disrupted Peyer's patches and induced massive bleeding in these structures only 20 min after inoculation into the ileal loop. In contrast, Vi-encapsulated wild strain GIFUI0007 cultured under low osmolarity was not destructive, even after 60 min. To understand the role of the type III secretion system under conditions of high osmolarity, we knocked out the invA and sipC genes of both GIFUI0007 and GIFUI0007·3. Neither invA nor sipC mutants could invade epithelial cells or M cells in a high osmolarity environment. Our data show that the highly invasive phenotype was only expressed when the wild strain S. typhi was cultured under high osmolarity, which induced a state of Vi suppression, and in the presence of the type III secretion system.