N-glycosylation of Campylobacter jejuni surface proteins promotes bacterial fitness.

ABSTRACT: Campylobacter jejuni is the etiologic agent of human bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. In contrast, despite heavy colonization, C. jejuni maintains a commensal mode of existence in chickens. The consumption of contaminated chicken products is thought to be the principal mode of C. jejuni transmission to the human population. C. jejuni harbors a system for N-linked protein glycosylation that has been well characterized and modifies more than 60 periplasmic and membrane-bound proteins. However, the precise role of this modification in the biology of C. jejuni remains unexplored. We hypothesized that the N-glycans protect C. jejuni surface proteins from the action of gut proteases. The C. jejuni pglB mutant, deficient in the expression of the oligosaccharyltransferase, exhibited reduced gr

SUBMITTER: Alemka A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3648013 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature