Refined Live Attenuated Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium and Enteritidis Vaccines Mediate Homologous and Heterologous Serogroup Protection in Mice

Invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) infections constitute a major health problem among infants and toddlers in sub-Saharan Africa; these infections also occur in infants and the elderly in developed countries. We genetically engineered a Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain of multilocus sequence type 313, the predominant genotype circulating in sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated the capacities of S. Typhimurium and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis ΔguaBA ΔclpX live oral vaccines to protect mice against a highly lethal challenge dose of the homologous serovar and determined protection against other group B and D serovars circulating in sub-Saharan Africa. The vaccines S. Typhimurium CVD 1931 and S. Enteritidis CVD 1944 were immunogenic and protected BALB/c mice against 10,000 50% lethal doses (LD₅₀) of S. Typhimurium or S. Enteritidis, respectively. S. Typhimurium CVD 1931 protected mice against the group B serovar Salmonella enterica serovar Stanleyville (91% vaccine efficacy), and S. Enteritidis CVD 1944 protected mice against the group D serovar Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin (85% vaccine efficacy). High rates of survival were observed when mice were infected 12 weeks postimmunization, indicating that the vaccines elicited long-lived protective immunity. Whereas CVD 1931 did not protect against S. Enteritidis R11, CVD 1944 did mediate protection against S. Typhimurium D65 (81% efficacy). These findings suggest that a bivalent (S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis) vaccine would provide broad protection against the majority of invasive NTS infections in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Salmonella Typhi outer membrane protein STIV is a potential candidate for vaccine development against typhoid and paratyphoid fever

Enteric fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serovars, Typhi (S. Typhi) and Paratyphi (S. Paratyphi) is a major public health challenge for the developing nations. Globally, the disease affects ˜15-30 million individuals every year, resulting in >200,000 deaths. Multidrug-resistant S. Typhi H58 strain has emerged as the dominant circulating strain in a large part of the world and an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) subclade of the strain was recently reported. Many believe that vaccination of the susceptible populations is urgently needed and the best option to control the infection. However, the commercial live attenuated (Ty21a) vaccine is not recommended for children below six years of age while the Vi-polysaccharide-based vaccine has poor long-term efficacy against typhoid fever. Moreover, no vaccines are available against S. Paratyphi infection. Thus, a new formulation capable of providing long term protection against both the pathogens and safe for all age groups is immediately required. We show that recombinant, S. Typhi outer membrane protein STIV (rSTIV) is immunogenic in mice and elicits high serum titers of different immunoglobulin subtypes. STIV antibodies opsonize S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A to promote antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-mediated lysis. Immunization with rSTIV also induces robust cell-mediated immunity, including antigen-specific T cell proliferation and cytotoxic T lymphocyte response. Finally, mice immunized with rSTIV are significantly protected against S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A challenge, with reduced visceral bacterial load. Our results underscore the potential of rSTIV as a novel vaccine candidate for enteric fever.     

Antimicrobial resistance patterns and serotype distribution among Salmonella enterica strains in Turkey, 2000–2002

Since Turkey currently lacks a national reference center for Salmonella infections, the present study was conducted to document the distribution of serotypes and antimicrobial resistance patterns among Salmonella enterica isolates recovered from clinical samples in ten Turkish provinces over a 2-year period. Among the 620 Salmonella enterica isolates recovered between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2002, strains belonging to the serotypes Enteritidis (47.7%), Typhimurium (34.7%), Paratyphi B (6.0%), Typhi (2.9%), Paratyphi A (0.2%) and serogroup C (8.5%) were found. Resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents was particularly high among Salmonella Typhimurium isolates (76.7%), and resistance or decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (MIC0.125 mg/l) was demonstrated in Salmonella Paratyphi B, Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis strains. All of the Salmonella Typhi isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin. The results indicate that decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin is an emerging problem in Salmonella enterica in Turkey, particularly in multiresistant strains.     

Reliable Means of Diagnosis and Serovar Determination of Blood-Borne Salmonella Strains: Quick PCR Amplification of Unique Genomic Loci by Novel Primer Sets

Typhoid fever is becoming an ever increasing threat in the developing countries. We have improved considerably upon the existing PCR-based diagnosis method by designing primers against a region that is unique to Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi A, corresponding to the STY0312 gene in S. Typhi and its homolog SPA2476 in S. Paratyphi A. An additional set of primers amplify another region in S. Typhi CT18 and S. Typhi Ty2 corresponding to the region between genes STY0313 to STY0316 but which is absent in S. Paratyphi A. The possibility of a false-negative result arising due to mutation in hypervariable genes has been reduced by targeting a gene unique to typhoidal Salmonella serovars as a diagnostic marker. The amplified region has been tested for genomic stability by amplifying the region from clinical isolates of patients from various geographical locations in India, thereby showing that this region is potentially stable. These set of primers can also differentiate between S. Typhi CT18, S. Typhi Ty2, and S. Paratyphi A, which have stable deletions in this specific locus. The PCR assay designed in this study has a sensitivity of 95% compared to the Widal test which has a sensitivity of only 63%. As observed, in certain cases, the PCR assay was more sensitive than the blood culture test was, as the PCR-based detection could also detect dead bacteria.Salmonella enterica is an important enteric pathogen and is involved in causing both systemic and intestinal diseases in humans and a wide range of other hosts (7, 21). Serotypes within subspecies I (Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica) are responsible for the vast majority of salmonellosis in warm-blooded animals. S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi and S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi A cause typhoid fever strictly in humans mostly in developing countries, with no age exemption, but it is less common in children younger than 2 years old. According to one estimate, the worldwide incidence of typhoid fever is 16 million cases annually and the mortality rate is 600,000 individuals per year (23). According to a press release from the Press Information Bureau, Government of India, dated 22 February 2006, the morbidity due to typhoid fever varies from 102 to 2,219 per 100,000 population in different parts of India, and in some areas, typhoid fever is responsible for 2 to 5% of all deaths. The problem of typhoid fever has been exacerbated by the appearance of multiple-drug-resistant strains (25), the treatment of which would depend on newer and advanced antibiotics and early and precise diagnosis.The existing modes of diagnosis are through the detection of antibodies against Salmonella bacteria by the Widal test and other serological tests like DOT enzyme immunoassay, dip stick assays, and semiquantitative tube agglutination test (22). Apart from this, the bacteremia observed in typhoid fever around day 6 to 9 enables it to be detected through the blood culture test (29) and PCR amplification of the bacterial DNA from blood. Of the commonly available diagnostic tests, Widal test and other serological diagnostic methods are limited because of the low specificity of the test. There are reports of a large number of false-positive cases especially in areas where typhoid fever is endemic and in patients exposed to typhoid fever earlier (6). The blood culture test has the major disadvantage of being a time-consuming test, which takes 2 to 3 days.PCR-based diagnoses are superior to the classical serological method, Widal test, and blood culture test in terms of their specificity and sensitivity. The modification by Sanchez-Jimenez and Cardona-Castro (26) where the initial DNA purification step is omitted and the whole blood is used directly as the template for PCR has been used in our assay system with minor modifications.The PCR-based systems currently use primers against flagellin genes (2, 4, 5, 12, 16, 17, 27), hilA (26), and invA and spvC genes (5). The different distributions of invA and spvC genes among Salmonella isolates from animals highlights the unsuitability of these two genes as PCR probes for Salmonella detection (20). Many genes carried on Salmonella pathogenicity islands have evolved differentially in typhoidal and nontyphoidal Salmonella serovars giving rise to different allelic variants of these genes (9). These genes are present in different Salmonella serovars, and their orthologs in other species of bacteria share various degrees of identity at the nucleotide levels (9). These differences, if minor, at certain PCR conditions can lead to promiscuous amplification, thereby leading to false-positive results. This problem can be overcome by choosing those regions that are unique to S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A. Though certain pathogenicity islands are unique to S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A, like Salmonella pathogenicity island 7 (SPI-7) and SPI-8, these islands are known to be unstable. These islands can be excised by the activation of certain recombinases as exemplified by isolation of the clinical variants lacking SPI-7 (19). Also, the presence of a gene encoding integrase on SPI-8 suggests that it is a mobile island (13). For the same reason, insertion sequences and bacteriophage genes are not good candidates for diagnostic purposes. However, a thorough examination of the whole-genome sequences of S. enterica serovar Typhi, S. Paratyphi A, and S. Typhimurium highlights the existence of genomic regions of unknown function with no homologous genes in related serovars and without the features of mobile DNA sequences. Using these criteria for the identification of a good diagnostic marker gene in S. Typhi CT18, we identified the genomic loci spanning the STY0312 gene, which is unique to S. Typhi CT18 and S. Paratyphi, the causative agents of typhoid fever. The adjoining locus spanning STY0313 to STY0316 was different in S. Typhi Ty2 and S. Paratyphi but otherwise conserved in most Salmonella strains. This region was found to be part of SPI-6, which is present in many Salmonella enterica subspecies I strains (10).We hypothesized that these novel primers could differentiate between typhoidal and nontyphoidal serovars of Salmonella enterica. Hence, the aim of the present work was to amplify the genomic region using the unique set of primers and demonstrate whether this method can be useful for the early diagnosis of typhoid fever.     

Live Oral Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi Vaccines Ty21a and CVD 909 Induce Opsonophagocytic Functional Antibodies in Humans That Cross-React with S. Paratyphi A and S. Paratyphi B

Live oral Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi vaccine Ty21a induces specific antibodies that cross-react against Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A and Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi B, although their functional role in clearance remains unknown. We utilized an in vitro assay with THP-1 macrophages to compare the phagocytosis and survival of Salmonella opsonized with heat-inactivated human sera obtained before and after vaccination with Ty21a or a live oral S. Typhi vaccine, CVD 909. Opsonization with postvaccination sera predominantly increased the phagocytosis of S. Typhi relative to the corresponding prevaccination sera, and increases were also observed with S. Paratyphi A and S. Paratyphi B, albeit of lower magnitudes. Relative to prevaccination sera, opsonization with the postvaccination sera reduced the survival inside macrophages of S. Typhi but not of S. Paratyphi A or S. Paratyphi B. Higher anti-S. Typhi O antigen (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) IgG, but not IgA, antibody titers correlated significantly with postvaccination increases in opsonophagocytosis. No differences were observed between immunization with four doses of Ty21a or one dose of CVD 909. Ty21a and CVD 909 induced cross-reactive functional antibodies, predominantly against S. Typhi. IgG anti-LPS antibodies may be important in phagocytic clearance of these organisms. Therefore, measurement of functional antibodies might be important in assessing the immunogenicity of a new generation of typhoid and paratyphoid A vaccines. (The CVD 909 study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00326443","term_id":"NCT00326443"}}NCT00326443.)     

Molecular and Cellular Characterization of a Salmonella enterica Serovar Paratyphi A Outbreak Strain and the Human Immune Response to Infection

Enteric fever is an invasive life-threatening systemic disease caused by the Salmonella enterica human-adapted serovars Typhi and Paratyphi. Increasing incidence of infections with Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A and the spreading of its antibiotic-resistant derivates pose a significant health concern in some areas of the world. Herein, we describe a molecular and phenotypic characterization of an S. Paratyphi A strain accounted for a recent paratyphoid outbreak in Nepal that affected at least 37 travelers. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of the outbreak isolates revealed one genetic clone (pulsotype), confirming a single infecting source. Genetic profiling of the outbreak strain demonstrated the contribution of specific bacteriophages as a prime source of genetic diversity among clinical isolates of S. Paratyphi A. Phenotypic characterization in comparison with the S. Paratyphi A ATCC 9150 reference sequenced strain showed differences in flagellar morphology and increased abilities of the outbreak strain with respect to its motility, invasion into nonphagocytic cells, intracellular multiplication, survival within macrophages, and higher induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8) secreted by host cells. Collectively, these differences suggest an enhanced virulence potential of this strain and demonstrate an interesting phenotypic variation among S. Paratyphi A isolates. In vivo profiling of 16 inflammatory cytokines in patients infected with the outbreak strain revealed a common profile of a remarkable gamma interferon (IFN-γ) induction together with elevated concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-15, but not IL-12, which was previously demonstrated as elevated in nontyphoidal Salmonella infections. This apparent profile implies a distinct immune response to paratyphoid infections.     

Monoclonal Antibodies of a Diverse Isotype Induced by an O-Antigen Glycoconjugate Vaccine Mediate In Vitro and In Vivo Killing of African Invasive Nontyphoidal Salmonella

Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS), particularly Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis, is responsible for a major global burden of invasive disease with high associated case-fatality rates. We recently reported the development of a candidate O-antigen–CRM₁₉₇ glycoconjugate vaccine against S. Typhimurium. Here, using a panel of mouse monoclonal antibodies generated by the vaccine, we examined the relative efficiency of different antibody isotypes specific for the O:4 antigen of S. Typhimurium to effect in vitro and in vivo killing of the invasive African S. Typhimurium strain {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"D23580","term_id":"427513","term_text":"D23580"}}D23580. All O:4-specific antibody isotypes could mediate cell-free killing and phagocytosis of S. Typhimurium by mouse blood cells. Opsonization of Salmonella with O:4-specific IgA, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b, but not IgM, resulted in cell-dependent bacterial killing. At high concentrations, O:4-specific antibodies inhibited both cell-free complement-mediated and cell-dependent opsonophagocytic killing of S. Typhimurium in vitro. Using passive immunization in mice, the O:4-specific antibodies provided in vivo functional activity by decreasing the bacterial load in the blood and tissues, with IgG2a and IgG2b being the most effective isotypes. In conclusion, an O-antigen–CRM₁₉₇ glycoconjugate vaccine can induce O-antigen-specific antibodies of different isotypes that exert in vitro and in vivo killing of S. Typhimurium.     

Development of a novel multiplex PCR for the detection and differentiation of Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A

In this study, we developed a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) assay for pan-Salmonella detection as well as for specific detection of serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A. The assay detects members of the Salmonella genus by amplifying the outer membrane protein C (ompC). The presence of either Salmonella serovar Typhi or Paratyphi A is indicated by amplification of the putative regulatory protein gene STY4220, which is common to both serovars. Further differentiation of the serovars was achieved by targeting the intergenic region (SSPAI) between SSPA1723a and SSPA1724 in serovar Paratyphi A, and stgA, a fimbrial subunit protein, in serovar Typhi. mPCR was evaluated using 124 clinical and reference Salmonella serovars. S. enterica serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A were detected at 100% specificity and sensitivity. Each PCR reaction detected approximately 1 pg of Salmonella genomic DNA. Sensitivity of the PCR when tested on 8-h-enriched spiked blood samples of serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A was estimated at 4.5 × 10⁴–5.5 × 10⁴ CFU/ml, with similar detection levels observed for spiked fecal samples. This mPCR could prove to be a useful diagnostic tool for the detection and differentiation of serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A.     

Transposon Mutagenesis of Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis Identifies Genes That Contribute to Invasiveness in Human and Chicken Cells and Survival in Egg Albumen

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is an important food-borne pathogen, and chickens are a primary reservoir of human infection. While most knowledge about Salmonella pathogenesis is based on research conducted on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis is known to have pathobiology specific to chickens that impacts epidemiology in humans. Therefore, more information is needed about S. Enteritidis pathobiology in comparison to that of S. Typhimurium. We used transposon mutagenesis to identify S. Enteritidis virulence genes by assay of invasiveness in human intestinal epithelial (Caco-2) cells and chicken liver (LMH) cells and survival within chicken (HD-11) macrophages as a surrogate marker for virulence. A total of 4,330 transposon insertion mutants of an invasive G1 Nal^r strain were screened using Caco-2 cells. This led to the identification of attenuating mutations in a total of 33 different loci, many of which include genes previously known to contribute to enteric infection (e.g., Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 [SPI-1], SPI-4, SPI-5, CS54, fliH, fljB, csgB, spvR, and rfbMN) in S. Enteritidis and other Salmonella serovars. Several genes or genomic islands that have not been reported previously (e.g., SPI-14, ksgA, SEN0034, SEN2278, and SEN3503) or that are absent in S. Typhimurium or in most other Salmonella serovars (e.g., pegD, SEN1152, SEN1393, and SEN1966) were also identified. Most mutants with reduced Caco-2 cell invasiveness also showed significantly reduced invasiveness in chicken liver cells and impaired survival in chicken macrophages and in egg albumen. Consequently, these genes may play an important role during infection of the chicken host and also contribute to successful egg contamination by S. Enteritidis.     

Macrophages influence Salmonella host-specificity in vivo

The generalist Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes disease in many animal species, but the closely related host-specific serovar Typhi only causes disease in humans. Typhi and Typhimurium share major virulence loci; hence it is not known exactly why Typhi does not cause disease in mice. We tested the hypothesis that macrophages contribute to Salmonella host-specificity in mice. No significant difference in survival of the two serovars was observed in vitro in mouse macrophage cell lines and primary murine peritoneal and bone marrow-derived macrophages after 24 h. In contrast, differential survival was observed following infection in vivo. When BALB/c mice were infected intraperitoneally (i.p.), both Typhi and Typhimurium induced neutrophil influx into the peritoneum and macrophages were the major cell type containing internalized bacteria at 0.5 and 4 h post-infection for both serovars. The number of Typhimurium in macrophages remained high at 4 h post-infection, but the number of Typhi in macrophages decreased substantially within 4 h after i.p. infection. These results indicate that macrophages are able to distinguish Typhi from Typhimurium when infected in vivo but no significant differences were observed after 24 h in vitro, suggesting that the differential killing of the two serovars by macrophages requires additional factors within the host.     

Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptide Expression Is Not Induced or Required for Bacterial Clearance during Salmonella enterica Infection of Human Monocyte-Derived Macrophages

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is able to resist antimicrobial peptide killing by induction of the PhoP-PhoQ and PmrA-PmrB two-component systems and the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modifications they mediate. Murine cathelin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP) has been reported to inhibit S. Typhimurium growth in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesize that infection of human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and S. Typhimurium will induce human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) production, and exposure to LL-37 (processed, active form of CAMP/hCAP18) will lead to upregulation of PmrAB-mediated LPS modifications and increased survival in vivo. Unlike in mouse macrophages, in which CRAMP is upregulated during infection, camp gene expression was not induced in human MDMs infected with S. Typhi or S. Typhimurium. Upon infection, intracellular levels of ΔphoPQ, ΔpmrAB, and PhoP^c S. Typhi decreased over time but were not further inhibited by the vitamin D₃-induced increase in camp expression. MDMs infected with wild-type (WT) S. Typhi or S. Typhimurium released similar levels of proinflammatory cytokines; however, the LPS modification mutant strains dramatically differed in MDM-elicited cytokine levels. Overall, these findings indicate that camp is not induced during Salmonella infection of MDMs nor is key to Salmonella intracellular clearance. However, the cytokine responses from MDMs infected with WT or LPS modification mutant strains differ significantly, indicating a role for LPS modifications in altering the host inflammatory response. Our findings also suggest that S. Typhi and S. Typhimurium elicit different proinflammatory responses from MDMs, despite being capable of adding similar modifications to their LPS structures.     

Rapid multiplex PCR and real-time TaqMan PCR assays for detection of Salmonella enterica and the highly virulent serovars Choleraesuis and Paratyphi C

Salmonella enterica is a human pathogen with over 2,500 serovars characterized. S. enterica serovars Choleraesuis and Paratyphi C are two globally distributed serovars. We have developed a rapid molecular-typing method to detect serovars Choleraesuis and Paratyphi C in food samples by using a comparative-genomics approach to identify regions unique to each serovar from the sequenced genomes. A Salmonella-specific primer pair based on oriC was designed as an internal control to establish accuracy, sensitivity, and reproducibility. Serovar-specific primer sets based on regions of difference between serovars Choleraesuis and Paratyphi C were designed for real-time PCR assays. Three primer sets were used to screen a collection of over 100 Salmonella strains, and both serovars Choleraesuis and Paratyphi C gave unique amplification patterns. To develop the technique for practical use, its sensitivity for detection of Salmonella spp. in a food matrix was determined by spiking experiments. The technique was also adapted for a real-time PCR rapid-detection assay for both serovars Choleraesuis and Paratyphi C that complements the current procedures for Salmonella sp. isolation and serotyping.     

Emerging Salmonella Paratyphi A enteric fever and changing trends in antimicrobial resistance pattern of salmonella in Shimla

This retrospective study incorporates a six years, six months (January 2000-June 2006) laboratory data comprising 258 isolates of Salmonella. Cultures were identified by standard methods. Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S.Typhi) was the more frequent serotype isolated i.e., 61.62% with the remaining 38.37% being Salmonella enterica serotype Paratyphi A (S. Paratyphi A). There was emergence of S. Paratyphi A as the predominant serotype in 2003-2004 with resurgence of serotype Typhi thereon. A total of 66.27% isolates were resistant to one or more antibiotics. MDR S. Typhi was 10.69% and while 13.13% were MDR S. Paratyphi A. There was decrease in resistance to ampicillin, cotrimoxazole in 2004 and nalidixic acid beyond 2005 and increase in resistance to cefuroxime. We also documented a decrease in resistance to ciprofloxacin after 2005.     

Lipopolysaccharides Belonging to Different Salmonella Serovars Are Differentially Capable of Activating Toll-Like Receptor 4

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar (serotype) Abortusovis is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae. This serotype is naturally restricted to ovine species and does not infect humans. Limited information is available about the immune response of sheep to S. Abortusovis. S. Abortusovis, like Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi, causes a systemic infection in which, under natural conditions, animals are not able to raise a rapid immune response. Failure to induce the appropriate response allows pathogens to reach the placenta and results in an abortion. Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are specific to bacteria and are not synthesized by the host. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of receptors that specifically recognize PAMPs. As a first step, we were able to identify the presence of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) on the ovine placenta by using an immunohistochemistry technique. To our knowledge, this is the first work describing the interaction between S. Abortusovis LPS and TLR4. Experiments using an embryonic cell line (HEK293) transfected with human and ovine TLR4s showed a reduction of interleukin 8 (IL-8) production by S. Abortusovis and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi upon LPS stimulation compared to Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium. Identical results were observed using heat-killed bacteria instead of LPS. Based on data obtained with TLR4 in vitro stimulation, we demonstrated that the serotype S. Abortusovis is able to successfully evade the immune system whereas S. Typhimurium and other serovars fail to do so.     

Differential timing of antibody‐mediated phagocytosis and cell‐free killing of invasive African Salmonella allows immune evasion

Nontyphoidal Salmonellae commonly cause fatal bacteraemia in African children lacking anti‐Salmonella antibodies. These are facultative intracellular bacteria capable of cell‐free and intracellular survival within macrophages. To better understand the relationship between extracellular and intracellular infection in blood and general mechanisms of Ab‐related protection against Salmonella, we used human blood and sera to measure kinetics of Ab and complement deposition, serum‐mediated bactericidal killing and phagocytosis of invasive African Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium D23580. Binding of antibodies peaked by 30 s, but C3 deposition lagged behind, peaking after 2–4 min. C5b‐9 deposition was undetectable until between 2 and 6 min and peaked after 10 min, after which time an increase in serum‐mediated killing occurred. In contrast, intracellular, opsonized Salmonellae were readily detectable within 5 min. By 10 min, around half of monocytes and most neutrophils contained bacteria. The same kinetics of serum‐mediated killing and phagocytosis were observed with S. enterica Typhimurium laboratory strain SL1344, and the S. enterica Enteritidis African invasive isolate D24954 and laboratory strain PT4. The differential kinetics between cell‐free killing and phagocytosis of invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella allows these bacteria to escape the blood and establish intracellular infection before they are killed by the membrane attack complex.     

Prevalence of Salmonella enterica in Poultry and Eggs in Uruguay during an Epidemic Due to Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) is frequently associated with food-borne disease worldwide. Poultry-derived products are a major source. An epidemic of human infection with S. Enteritidis occurred in Uruguay, and to evaluate the extent of poultry contamination, we conducted a nationwide survey over 2 years that included the analysis of sera from 5,751 birds and 12,400 eggs. Serological evidence of infection with Salmonella group O:9 was found in 24.4% of the birds. All positive sera were retested with a gm flagellum-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and based on these results, the national prevalence of S. Enteritidis infection was estimated to be 6.3%. Salmonellae were recovered from 58 of 620 pools made up of 20 eggs each, demonstrating a prevalence of at least 1 in every 214 eggs. Surprisingly, the majority of the isolates were not S. Enteritidis. Thirty-nine isolates were typed as S. Derby, 9 as S. Gallinarum, 8 as S. Enteritidis, and 2 as S. Panama. Despite the highest prevalence in eggs, S. Derby was not isolated from humans in the period of analysis, suggesting a low capacity to infect humans. Microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization analysis of S. Derby and S. Enteritidis revealed more than 350 genetic differences. S. Derby lacked pathogenicity islands 13 and 14, the fimbrial lpf operon, and other regions encoding metabolic functions. Several of these regions are present not only in serovar Enteritidis but also in all sequenced strains of S. Typhimurium, suggesting that these regions might be related to the capacity of Salmonella to cause food-borne disease.Salmonella enterica is a major cause of food-borne disease worldwide (14, 18, 46). Poultry-derived products, particularly chicken eggs, are considered a major source of human infection with Salmonella (2, 20, 38). Chickens can be infected with many different serovars of Salmonella. Of these, S. enterica serovars Pullorum and Gallinarum (S. Pullorum and S. Gallinarum, respectively) are host specific and represent a major concern for the poultry industry but have no impact on public health. Other S. enterica serovars frequently isolated from chickens, such as Typhimurium, Enteritidis, and Heidelberg, can infect a wider range of hosts and frequently reach the human food chain, causing food-borne disease.A peculiar epidemiological feature of human salmonellosis is that epidemics are commonly associated with a particular prevalent serovar of S. enterica that shows temporal and geographical variation. Until the 1980s, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) was the serovar most commonly isolated from humans worldwide, but by the late 1980s, S. enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) emerged as the most common cause of salmonellosis in Europe, and during the 1990s, it became the most prevalent serovar in many countries worldwide (9, 22, 33, 40, 43). The reasons for this worldwide serovar shift are still not understood, and several hypotheses have been proposed, including the existence of a rodent reservoir for S. Enteritidis or the epidemiological change induced by vaccination of poultry against the closely related bacterium S. Gallinarum (47).In Uruguay, S. Typhimurium was the most frequently isolated serovar until 1994, and S. Enteritidis was only sporadically isolated (3, 24, 37). In 1995, a first outbreak of S. Enteritidis occurred, starting an epidemic that lasted almost 10 years. This outbreak was traced back to sandwiches prepared with contaminated mayonnaise that were distributed nationwide by a local catering service. According to data provided by the national public health authorities, the outbreak affected an estimated 600 individuals countrywide. From then on, several other outbreaks of various sizes occurred and S. Enteritidis was identified as the cause in 89% of Salmonella food poisoning episodes. In most of these cases (80%, according to official records), eggs or chicken meat was identified as the source of infection. From 1997 to 2004, S. Enteritidis was the most frequently identified serovar in Uruguay, accounting for more than 50% of the strains received each year at the National Salmonella Center and for more than 85% of the strains isolated from humans (3). After 2005, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of S. Enteritidis outbreaks, and this year was considered the end of the epidemic. Over the last 3 years, S. Typhimurium has become the serovar most frequently associated with isolated cases of food poisoning, and S. Derby and S. Panama have been sporadically isolated. Nevertheless, S. Enteritidis is still the serovar most frequently associated with outbreaks in the country.S. Enteritidis frequently colonizes the alimentary tracts of chickens without causing disease. However, it can produce a systemic infection in young chicks that may further lead to the infection of egg contents (13, 51). With the aim of knowing the prevalence of S. Enteritidis infection in poultry, we designed and conducted a countrywide serological and microbiological survey of chicken flocks and commercially available eggs from 2000 to 2002, and the results are presented here. An unexpected result of the survey was a higher prevalence of S. Derby than S. Enteritidis in eggs, particularly because while the latter was identified as the etiological agent of the epidemic there were no reports of human infections with S. Derby in the same period of time. This suggested a low capacity of S. Derby isolates to infect humans; thus, we performed a genomic comparison of the two serovars to search for genetic differences that could be the basis of such marked differences in epidemiological behavior. We found that S. Derby lacks several genomic regions related to virulence, suggesting that these regions could be involved in the capacity of Salmonella to cause food-borne disease.     

A bimodal pattern of relatedness between the Salmonella Paratyphi A and Typhi genomes: convergence or divergence by homologous recombination?

All Salmonella can cause disease but severe systemic infections are primarily caused by a few lineages. Paratyphi A and Typhi are the deadliest human restricted serovars, responsible for ~600,000 deaths per annum. We developed a Bayesian changepoint model that uses variation in the degree of nucleotide divergence along two genomes to detect homologous recombination between these strains, and with other lineages of Salmonella enterica. Paratyphi A and Typhi showed an atypical and surprising pattern. For three quarters of their genomes, they appear to be distantly related members of the species S. enterica, both in their gene content and nucleotide divergence. However, the remaining quarter is much more similar in both aspects, with average nucleotide divergence of 0.18% instead of 1.2%. We describe two different scenarios that could have led to this pattern, convergence and divergence, and conclude that the former is more likely based on a variety of criteria. The convergence scenario implies that, although Paratyphi A and Typhi were not especially close relatives within S. enterica, they have gone through a burst of recombination involving more than 100 recombination events. Several of the recombination events transferred novel genes in addition to homologous sequences, resulting in similar gene content in the two lineages. We propose that recombination between Typhi and Paratyphi A has allowed the exchange of gene variants that are important for their adaptation to their common ecological niche, the human host.