Outer membrane characteristics of Campylobacter jejuni grown in chickens

Abstract

A type of in vivo phenotype of Campylobacter jejuni was obtained by maintaining bacteria in the peritoneal cavities of chickens for one week. These bacteria, which had not been subcultured on laboratory media, were used to prepare outer membranes for comparison with C. jejuni grown in vitro. Flagella with subunits of 65 kDa and a single porin with a protein subunit of 49 kDa were expressed constitutively; however, outer membrane proteins of 55, 35 and 20 kDa, and intermediate-chain lipopolysaccharide were only expressed by bacteria maintained in chickens.