Campylobacter jejuni uses energy taxis and a dehydrogenase enzyme for l-fucose chemotaxis

Bibi Zhou; Jolene M Garber; Jiri Vlach; Parastoo Azadi; Kenneth K S Ng; Jorge C Escalante-Semerena; Christine M Szymanski

doi:10.1128/mbio.02732-23

Campylobacter jejuni uses energy taxis and a dehydrogenase enzyme for l-fucose chemotaxis

mBio. 2023 Nov 30;14(6):e0273223. doi: 10.1128/mbio.02732-23. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Bibi Zhou^{1

2}, Jolene M Garber^{1

2}, Jiri Vlach², Parastoo Azadi², Kenneth K S Ng³, Jorge C Escalante-Semerena¹, Christine M Szymanski^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
² Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

In this study, we identify a separate role for the Campylobacter jejuni l-fucose dehydrogenase in l-fucose chemotaxis and demonstrate that this mechanism is not only limited to C. jejuni but is also present in Burkholderia multivorans. We now hypothesize that l-fucose energy taxis may contribute to the reduction of l-fucose-metabolizing strains of C. jejuni from the gastrointestinal tract of breastfed infants, selecting for isolates with increased colonization potential.

Keywords: Campylobacter jejuni; chemotaxis; energy taxis; l-fucose.

Abstract

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