Enhanced virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium after passage through mice.

ABSTRACT: The interaction between Salmonella enterica and the host immune system is complex. The outcome of an infection is the result of a balance between the in vivo environment where the bacteria survive and grow and the regulation of fitness genes at a level sufficient for the bacteria to retain their characteristic rate of growth in a given host. Using bacteriological counts from tissue homogenates and fluorescence microscopy to determine the spread, localization, and distribution of S. enterica in the tissues, we show that, during a systemic infection, S. enterica adapts to the in vivo environment. The adaptation becomes a measurable phenotype when bacteria that have resided in a donor animal are introduced into a recipient naïve animal. This adaptation does not confer increased resistance to

SUBMITTER: Mastroeni P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3028859 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature