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. 2020 Sep 28:8:e10011.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.10011. eCollection 2020.

Pyruvate is required for catecholamine-stimulated growth of different strains of Campylobacter jejuni

Meicen Liu  1 , Mark Lyte  1
Affiliations

Pyruvate is required for catecholamine-stimulated growth of different strains of Campylobacter jejuni

Meicen Liu et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Humans and food-producing animals are constantly exposed to and affected by stress. As a consequence of stress, the release of stress-related catecholamines, such as norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA), from nerve terminals in the gastrointestinal tract potentiates both the growth and the virulence of pathogenic bacteria. This may lead to the enhancement of gastrointestinal infections in humans or food-producing animals. Compared with foodborne bacterial pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp., less is known about the effect of stress catecholamines on Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni. The present study focuses on the effect(s) of stress catecholamines DA and NE in iron-restricted media and how they affect the growth of different C. jejuni strains NCTC 11168, 81-176, and ML2126. Results demonstrated that DA- and NE-enhanced growth of C. jejuni in iron-restricted media may involve different mechanisms that cannot be explained by current understanding which relies on catecholamine-mediated iron delivery. Specifically, we found that DA-enhanced growth requires pyruvate, whereas NE-enhanced growth does not. We further report significant strain-specific dependence of C. jejuni growth on various catecholamines in the presence or absence of pyruvate. These data provide novel insights into the effect(s) of stress catecholamines on the in vitro growth of C. jejuni in iron-restricted environments, such as the intestinal tract. They suggest a mechanism by which stress-related catecholamines affect the growth of C. jejuni in the intestinal tract of food-producing animals, which in turn may influence colonization and transmission to humans.

Keywords: Campylobacter jejuni; Catecholamines; Dopamine; Iron; Microbial endocrinology; Norepinephrine; Pyruvate; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The 24-hour growth of C. jejuni ML2126 in MHs supplemented with different concentrations of iron.
Data represent the means of duplicate samples.
Figure 2
Figure 2. The 24-hour growth of 3 C. jejuni strains in pyruvate-supplemented MH broth with serum (pMHs) with and without the supplementation of 100 µM NE or DA.
An asterisk (∗) indicates no detectable growth at the end of incubation. Each bar represents the mean of duplicate samples. These data are representative of two independent experiments.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The 24-hour growth of 3 C. jejuni strains in pyruvate-supplemented MCLMAN medium with serum (pMCLMANs) with and without the supplementation of DA or NE (100 µM).
An asterisk (∗) indicates no detectable growth at the end of incubation. Each bar represents the mean of duplicate samples. The graph is representative of two independent experiments.
Figure 4
Figure 4. The 24-hour growth of C. jejuni NCTC 11168 and 81-176 in pMHs supplemented with different concentrations DA or NE.
Each point represents the mean ± standard deviation of triplicate samples.
Figure 5
Figure 5. The 24-hour growth of C. jejuni strain NCTC 11168 in DA or NE supplemented (100 µM) iron-restricted media MHs or MCLMANs with and without 1 mM sodium pyruvate supplementation.
An asterisk (∗) indicates no detectable growth at the end of incubation. Each bar represents the mean ± standard deviation of triplicate samples.
Figure 6
Figure 6. The 24-hour growth of C. jejuni NCTC 11168 in DA or NE supplemented (100 µM) MCLMANs with and without different antioxidants included at a concentration of 2 mM.
An asterisk (∗) indicates no detectable growth at the end of incubation. Each bar represents the mean ± the standard deviation of triplicate samples.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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