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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307459
Title: Reactions of chicken sera to recombinant Campylobacter jejuni flagellar proteins

Author
item Yeh, Hung-Yueh
item Hiett, Kelli
item Line, John

Submitted to: Archives of Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/12/2014
Publication Date: 3/1/2015
Citation: Yeh, H., Hiett, K.L., Line, J.E. 2015. Reactions of chicken sera to recombinant Campylobacter jejuni flagellar proteins. Archives Of Microbiology. 197(2):353-358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-014-1062-3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-014-1062-3

Interpretive Summary: Campylobacter jejuni is the leading but under-reported food-borne pathogen that causes human acute bacterial enteritis worldwide. Poultry products are regarded as a major source of this microorganism for human infection. C. jejuni flagella have been implicated in interaction with the mucosal surface of chicken gut. Therefore, flagellar proteins would be the excellent targets for further investigation. In this report, we generated a battery of C. jejuni flagellar proteins, which were purified by affinity chromatography, and assayed antigenic profiles of these proteins using sera from broilers older than four weeks of age. The results demonstrate that each chicken serum reacted to various numbers of recombinant flagellar proteins. Among these proteins, chicken sera reacted predominantly to the flagellar hook protein, flagellar hook-filament junction protein, flagellar master regulator protein, flagellar motor switch protein and flagellar rotor protein. These antibody screening results provide a rationale for further evaluation of these proteins as potential vaccines for chickens to improve food safety as well as investigation of host immune response to C. jejuni.

Technical Abstract: Campylobacter jejuni is a Gram-negative rod bacterium and is the leading but under-reported bacterial food-borne pathogen that causes human campylobacteriosis worldwide. Raw or undercooked poultry products are regarded as a major source for human infection. C. jejuni flagella have been implicated in colonization and adhesion to the mucosal surface of chicken gastrointestinal tracts. Therefore, flagellar proteins would be the excellent targets for further investigation. In this report, we used the recombinant technology to generate a battery of C. jejuni flagellar proteins, which were purified by His tag affinity chromatography, and determined antigenic profiles of these recombinant flagellar proteins using sera from chickens older than four weeks of age. The immunoblot results demonstrate that each chicken serum reacted to various numbers of recombinant flagellar proteins. Among these recombinant proteins, chicken sera reacted predominantly to the FlgE1, FlgK, FlhF, FliG and FliY proteins. These antibody screening results provide a rationale for further evaluation of these recombinant flagellar proteins as potential vaccines for chickens to improve food safety as well as investigation of host immune response to C. jejuni.