Chicken juice enhances surface attachment and biofilm formation of Campylobacter jejuni

Brown, Helen L., Reuter, Mark, Salt, Louise J., Cross, Kathryn L., Betts, Roy P., van Vliet, Arnoud H. M. and Griffiths, M. W. 2014. Chicken juice enhances surface attachment and biofilm formation of Campylobacter jejuni. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 80 (22) , pp. 7053-7060. 10.1128/AEM.02614-14

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB)

Abstract

The bacterial pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is primarily transmitted via the consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, especially poultry meat. In food processing environments, C. jejuni is required to survive a multitude of stresses and requires the use of specific survival mechanisms, such as biofilms. An initial step in biofilm formation is bacterial attachment to a surface. Here, we investigated the effects of a chicken meat exudate (chicken juice) on C. jejuni surface attachment and biofilm formation. Supplementation of brucella broth with ≥5% chicken juice resulted in increased biofilm formation on glass, polystyrene, and stainless steel surfaces with four C. jejuni isolates and one C. coli isolate in both microaerobic and aerobic conditions. When incubated with chicken juice, C. jejuni was both able to grow and form biofilms in static cultures in aerobic conditions. Electron microscopy showed that C. jejuni cells were associated with chicken juice particulates attached to the abiotic surface rather than the surface itself. This suggests that chicken juice contributes to C. jejuni biofilm formation by covering and conditioning the abiotic surface and is a source of nutrients. Chicken juice was able to complement the reduction in biofilm formation of an aflagellated mutant of C. jejuni, indicating that chicken juice may support food chain transmission of isolates with lowered motility. We provide here a useful model for studying the interaction of C. jejuni biofilms in food chain-relevant conditions and also show a possible mechanism for C. jejuni cell attachment and biofilm initiation on abiotic surfaces within the food chain.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Dentistry
Publisher:	American Society for Microbiology
ISSN:	0099-2240
Funders:	BBSRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	7 September 2020
Date of Acceptance:	1 September 2014
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 07:27
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/134662

Citation Data

Cited 114 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item