Comparison of adhesion, invasion, motility, and toxin production of Campylobacter strains and their resistant mutants

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to compare the in vitro adhesion and invasion of human epithelial cells, motility, and toxin production characteristics of Campylobacter-susceptible strains and their fluoroquinolone- or macrolide-resistant mutants. Susceptible strains and resistant mutants demonstrated similar adhesion capacities to epithelial cells. For Campylobacter coli, fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants with Thr86Ile or Asp90Asn substitutions showed a higher rate of invasion of Caco-2 cells than their isogenic parental strain. Fluoroquinolone resistance did not impact C. coli motility. Mutants harboring Asp90Asn had greater cytotoxic activity than the parental strain. Macrolide resistance had no impact on the studied characteristics of C. coli. For Campylobacter jejuni, fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants had slightly different invasiveness levels and significantly lower motility than the isogenic parental strain. C. jejuni macrolide-resistant mutants with A2074G substitution in the 23S rRNA gene had a higher invasiveness level than its parental strain, but mutants with A2074C in 23S rRNA and G221A in rplD showed reduced motility and similar invasion levels to the susceptible strains. Neither fluoroquinolone nor macrolide resistance appears to affect C. jejuni cytotoxicity. In conclusion, mutations that are frequently encountered in Campylobacter-resistant strains can enhance the invasiveness in Caco-2 cells.