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Going against the grain: chemotaxis and infection in Vibrio cholerae

Key Points

  • Chemotaxis has long been proposed to be important in helping motile pathogens to locate the appropriate niche for colonization within the host. In the case of many non-invasive enteric pathogens this principle holds true, with one exception — the cholera bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

  • Chemotaxis seems to restrict V. cholerae colonization of the infant-mouse small intestine, the most commonly used model of infection. In the absence of functional chemotaxis, V. cholerae exhibit expanded colonization of the intestinal tract and a concomitant increase in infectivity compared to the wild-type strain.

  • V. cholerae shed from cholera patients have a competitive advantage over their in vitro grown counterparts during the infection of infant mice. This is probably the result of a number of factors, one of which might be a defect in chemotaxis, as suggested by transcriptome analysis. If true, this might have important implications for our understanding of the infectious process.

  • The V. cholerae genome is complex with respect to chemotaxis, having three distinct operons that encode separate chemotaxis systems. Two of these operons are dispensable for chemotaxis in vitro and for infection.

  • The role that chemotaxis and motility play in the environmental stages of V. cholerae has not yet been determined. It is probable that chemotaxis has a role in locating suitable environmental hosts and surfaces. The additional chemotaxis systems might play a role in this aspect of the V. cholerae life cycle by regulating the activity of other functions besides motility.

Abstract

Chemotaxis is the process by which motile cells move in a biased manner both towards favourable and away from unfavourable environments. The requirement of this process for infection has been examined in several bacterial pathogens, including Vibrio cholerae. The single polar flagellum of Vibrio species is powered by a sodium-motive force across the inner membrane, and can rotate to produce speeds of up to 60 cell-body lengths (60μm) per second. Investigating the role of the chemotactic control of rapid flagellar motility during V. cholerae infection has revealed some unexpected and intriguing results.

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Figure 1: The life cycle of pathogenic Vibrio cholerae.
Figure 2: Flagellar-based motility.
Figure 3: Architecture of the small intestine.
Figure 4: Model for the effect of chemotaxis in limiting Vibrio cholerae colonization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Angelichio for the scanning electron micrographs of Vibrio cholerae during infection.

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Correspondence to Andrew Camilli.

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DATABASES

Entrez

Bacillus subtilis

Bordetella bronchiseptica

Campylobacter jejuni

Escherichia coli

Helicobacter pylori

Myxococcus xanthus

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio fischeri

Yersinia enterocolitica

FURTHER INFORMATION

Andrew Camilli's laboratory

Glossary

BIOFILM

Microbial biofilms are populations of microorganisms that are concentrated at an interface (usually solid–liquid) and typically surrounded by an extracellular polymeric substance matrix. Aggregates of cells that are not attached to a surface are sometimes termed 'flocs' and have many of the characteristics of biofilms.

PLANKTONIC CELLS

Single cells in suspension, instead of in a biofilm.

PERISTALSIS

Successive contractions of the muscular walls of the gut that move gut contents along.

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Butler, S., Camilli, A. Going against the grain: chemotaxis and infection in Vibrio cholerae. Nat Rev Microbiol 3, 611–620 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1207

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