Motility of Campylobacter concisus isolated from saliva, feces, and gut mucosal biopsies

Abstract

Campylobacter concisus is an emerging pathogen associated with gastrointestinal disorders such as gastroenteritis and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but the species is also found in healthy subjects. The heterogeneous genome of C. concisus increases the likelihood of varying virulence between strains. Flagella motility is a crucial virulence factor for the well-recognized Campylobacter jejuni; therefore, this study aimed to analyze the motility of C. concisus isolated from saliva, gut biopsies, and feces of patients with IBD, gastroenteritis, and healthy subjects. The motility zones of 63 isolates from 52 patients were measured after microaerobic growth in soft-agar plates for 72 hours. The motility of C. concisus was significantly lower than that of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus. The motility of C. concisus varied between isolates (4-22 mm), but there was no statistical significant difference between isolates from IBD patients and healthy subjects (p = 0.14). A tendency of a larger motility zones was observed for IBD gut mucosa isolates, although it did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.13), and no difference was found between oral or fecal isolates between groups. In conclusion, the varying motility of C. concisus could not be related to disease outcome or colonization sites.

Motility and biofilm formation of the emerging gastrointestinal pathogenCampylobacter concisusdiffers under microaerophilic and anaerobic environments

“…Motility of 42 C. concisus isolates was assessed on soft agar plates under anaerobic conditions and compared to previous findings under microaerophilic conditions for the same cohort of isolates. 29 Motility varied significantly amongst isolates (Kruskal Wallis; p < 0.01; Fig. 2).…”

“…Motility zones below 5 mm were classified on non-motile in accordance to previous studies. 28,29 Motility assay was repeated three times, each time with three technical replicates per isolate yielding a minimum of nine measurements per isolate. Motility evaluation under microaerophilic conditions was conducted using the same protocol and previously reported by Ovesen et al 29 Bacterial Supernatant supplemented Motility Assay…”

The Clinical Importance of Campylobacter concisus and Other Human Hosted Campylobacter Species

“…Several studies have examined the motility of C. concisus strains isolated from saliva, feces and intestinal biopsies of patients with IBD, gastroenteritis, and healthy individuals. The motility was shown to be strain dependent, and no statistically significant association was found between patients and healthy controls (Lavrencic et al, 2012 ; Ovesen et al, 2017 ). The authors also reported that the motility of C. concisus was lower than that of C. jejuni and C. fetus (Ovesen et al, 2017 ).…”

“…The motility was shown to be strain dependent, and no statistically significant association was found between patients and healthy controls (Lavrencic et al, 2012 ; Ovesen et al, 2017 ). The authors also reported that the motility of C. concisus was lower than that of C. jejuni and C. fetus (Ovesen et al, 2017 ). Furthermore, comparative genomic analysis of C. concisus strains had identified proteins required for flagellin glycosylation pathway, which may affect bacterial flagellar filament assembly, autoagglutination, adhesion and invasion (Kaakoush et al, 2011 ).…”