Emergence of a 'hyperinfectious' bacterial state after passage of Citrobacter rodentium through the host gastrointestinal tract

Citrobacter rodentium belongs to a family of human and animal enteric pathogens that includes the clinically significant enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). These pathogens exploit attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions to colonize the host gastrointestinal tract. However, both EHEC and EPEC are poorly pathogenic in mice. In contrast, C. rodentium, which is genetically highly related to E. coli, relies on A/E lesion formation as an essential step in both colonization and infection of the murine mucosa, providing an excellent in vivo model. In this study we have used bioluminescence imaging (BLI) to investigate the organ specificity and dynamics of colonization of mice by LB-grown and mouse-passaged C. rodentium in situ and in real time. We have demonstrated the appearance of a 'hyperinfectious' state after passage of C. rodentium through the murine gastrointestinal tract. The 'hyperinfectious' state was found to dramatically reduce the dose required to infect secondary individuals, and also influenced the tissue distribution of colonizing bacteria, removing the requirement for primary colonization of the caecal patch. In addition, the 'hyperinfectious' phenotype was found to be transient with one overnight passage in rich medium sufficient to return C. rodentium to 'culture' infectivity.     

Identification of a novel type IV pilus gene cluster required for gastrointestinal colonization of Citrobacter rodentium

Citrobacter rodentium is used as an in vivo model system for clinically significant enteric pathogens such as enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). These pathogens all colonize the lumen side of the host gastrointestinal tract via attaching and effacing (A/E) lesion formation. In order to identify genes required for the colonization of A/E-forming pathogens, a library of signature-tagged transposon mutants of C. rodentium was constructed and screened in mice. Of the 576 mutants tested, 14 were attenuated in their ability to colonize the descending colon. Of these, eight mapped to the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), which is required for the formation of A/E lesions, underlying the importance of this mechanism for pathogenesis. Another mutant, P5H2, was found to have a transposon insertion in an open reading frame that has strong similarity to type IV pilus nucleotide-binding proteins. The region flanking the transposon insertion was sequenced, identifying a cluster of 12 genes that encode the first described pilus of C. rodentium (named colonization factor Citrobacter, CFC). The proteins encoded by cfc genes have identity to proteins of the type IV COF pilus of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), the toxin co-regulated pilus of Vibrio cholerae and the bundle-forming pilus of EPEC. A non-polar mutation in cfcI, complementation of this strain with wild-type cfcI and complementation of strain P5H2 with wild-type cfcH confirmed that these genes are required for colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by C. rodentium. Thus, CFC provides a convenient model to study type IV pilus-mediated pathogen-host interactions under physiological conditions in the natural colonic environment.     

Long-term Selenium Deficiency Increases the Pathogenicity of a Citrobacter rodentium Infection in Mice

Citrobacter rodentium is a mouse pathogen that causes infectious colitis and shares characteristics with human enteropathogenic (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) Escherichia coli, including the ability to cause attaching and effacing lesions in the colon and serves as a useful model to study the pathogenicity of these bacteria. In this study, mice were fed a selenium-deficient diet for 5 or 20?weeks and then infected with C. rodentium. Colonization of the colon by C. rodentium was similar in mice fed adequate or selenium-deficient diets, but total bacterial colonization of the spleen was elevated in mice fed selenium-deficient diet for 20?weeks. Infection-induced changes to the colon included inflammatory cell infiltration, gross changes in crypt architecture, and ulceration and denuding of the epithelial layer that were greatest in mice fed a selenium-deficient diet for 20?weeks. Expression of pro-inflammatory genes was significantly higher 12-days post-infection in mice fed the selenium-deficient diet for 20?weeks compared to mice fed a selenium-adequate diet or selenium-deficient diet for 5?weeks. Diarrhea was prevalent in mice fed the selenium-deficient diet for 20?weeks but not 5?weeks, and this was associated with decreased expression of solute carrier family 26a3 and carbonic anhydrase IV, genes involved in ion transport. These results indicated that selenium played an important role in resistance to the pathological effects of a C. rodentium infection, and therefore, selenium status may be important in the expression of human disease caused by common food-borne bacteria.     

Hypervirulent-Host-Associated Citrobacter rodentium Cells Have Poor Acid Tolerance

Enhanced virulence or infectivity after passage through a mammalian host has been reported for a number of enteric food-borne pathogens. Citrobacter rodentium is a mouse pathogen that mimics many aspects of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection of humans and serves as a useful model for studying virulence mechanisms. Emergence of a hyperinfectious state after passage through mouse gastrointestinal tract was reported for C. rodentium. We wanted to investigate if increased acid tolerance could explain hypervirulence status of C. rodentium. Although we were able to observe hyperinfectious state of C. rodentium upon host passage, the cells were extremely acid sensitive. Growth under mildly acidic conditions (LB-MES, pH 5.5) induced acid tolerance of C. rodentium, but did not improve the organism’s ability to establish infection. Growth under anaerobic environment on fecal components also did not induce hyperinfectious state. Thus, contrary to conventional anticipation, hypervirulent C. rodentium cells were found to be acid sensitive thereby revealing limitations of the role of mouse gastric acidity by itself in elucidating the hypervirulent phenotype.     

Organ specificity, colonization and clearance dynamics in vivo following oral challenges with the murine pathogen Citrobacter rodentium

Citrobacter rodentium belongs to a family of human and animal enteric pathogens that includes the clinically significant enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). These pathogens use attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions to colonize the host gastrointestinal tract. In this study we have used bioluminescence imaging (BLI) to investigate the organ specificity, dynamics of colonization and clearance of mice by C. rodentium in situ and in real time. The bioluminescent C. rodentium derivative, strain ICC180, expresses the luxCDABE operon from the entemopathogenic nematode symbiont Photorhabdus luminescens and light levels accurately reflect bacterial numbers both in vitro and in vivo. We have demonstrated that primary colonization of the mouse by C. rodentium takes place within the caecum, specifically within the specialized patch of lymphoid tissue known as the caecal patch. Following colonization of the caecum C. rodentium established a colonic infection. Clearance of C. rodentium ICC180 parallels the colonization dynamics, i.e. the caecum was first to be cleared followed by the colon. A bioluminescent eae (encoding the outer membrane adhesin intimin) C. rodentium mutant failed to establish long-term colonization, although low levels of bacteria could be recovered for up to 3 days post challenge from the caecum.     

Vi-Suppressed wild strain Salmonella typhi cultured in high osmolarity is hyperinvasive toward epithelial cells and destructive of Peyer's patches

Salmonella typhi GIFU10007-3 which lost a viaB locus on its chromosome became highly invasive in our previous study. To investigate the phenomenon, we controlled Vi expression in wild strain S. typhi GIFU10007, and studied the invasive phenotype both in vitro and in vivo. When the wild strain of S. typhi was cultured in 300 mM NaCl containing Luria-Bertani broth (LBH), the expression of Vi antigen was suppressed, but secretion of invasion proteins (SipC, SipB and SipA) was increased. In this condition, wild strain S. typhi became highly invasive toward both epithelial cells and M cells of rat Peyer's patches. When GIFU10007 was cultured under conditions of high osmolarity, the bacteria disrupted Peyer's patches and induced massive bleeding in these structures only 20 min after inoculation into the ileal loop. In contrast, Vi-encapsulated wild strain GIFU10007 cultured under low osmolarity was not destructive, even after 60 min. To understand the role of the type III secretion system under conditions of high osmolarity, we knocked out the invA and sipC genes of both GIFU10007 and GIFU10007-3. Neither invA nor sipC mutants could invade epithelial cells or M cells in a high osmolarity environment. Our data show that the highly invasive phenotype was only expressed when the wild strain S. typhi was cultured under high osmolarity, which induced a state of Vi suppression, and in the presence of the type III secretion system.     

Citrobacter rodentium virulence in mice associates with bacterial load and the type III effector NleE

Severe disease caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has been associated with a pathogenicity island, O-Island 122, which encodes the type III secretion system-effector NleE. Here we show that full virulence of the related attaching and effacing mouse pathogen Citrobacter rodentium requires NleE. Relative to wild-type bacteria, nleE-mutant C. rodentium are attenuated for colonisation in mice in both single and mixed infections. Examination of the ability of nleE-mutant bacteria to induce pathologic change in vivo revealed that nleE-mutant bacteria induce significantly less pathologic change than wild-type bacteria in susceptible mice. Consistent with these results, mice infected with nleE-mutant bacteria exhibit delayed mortality. These results suggested that pathologic change during attaching and effacing pathogen infection may associate with the degree of pathogen colonisation. Using mutants of 23 type III secretion genes, including the type III effectors nleC, nleD, nleE and nleF, the association of pathologic change with the ability of these mutants to colonise mice was examined. The induction of in vivo disease correlates strongly with the degree of colonisation, suggesting that the colonisation advantage type III secretion genes afford the bacteria, contribute to, and are required for, full virulence.     

Generation of Escherichia coli intimin derivatives with differing biological activities using site-directed mutagenesis of the intimin C-terminus domain

Intimins, encoded by eae genes, are outer membrane proteins involved in attaching–effacing (A/E) lesion formation and host cell invasion by pathogenic bacteria, including enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and Citrobacter rodentium . A series of intimins, harbouring specific mutations close to the C-terminus, were constructed using pCVD438, which encodes the eae gene from EPEC strain E2348/69. These mutant plasmids were introduced into EPEC strain CVD206 and C. rodentium strain DBS255, which both contain deletion mutations in their eae genes. CVD206, CVD206(pCVD438) and CVD206(pCVD438) derivatives were assessed for their ability to promote A/E lesion formation or invasion of HEp-2 cells and to induce A/E lesions on fresh human intestinal in vitro organ cultures (IVOC). The pathogenicity of C. rodentium DBS255 harbouring these plasmid derivatives was also studied in mice. Here, we report that intimin-mediated A/E lesion formation can be segregated from intimin-mediated HEp-2 cell invasion. Moreover, adherence to IVOC, EPEC-induced microvillus elongation and colonization of the murine intestine by C. rodentium were also modulated by the modified intimins.     

Citrobacter rodentium of mice and man

The major classes of enteric bacteria harbour a conserved core genomic structure, common to both commensal and pathogenic strains, that is most likely optimized to a life style involving colonization of the host intestine and transmission via the environment. In pathogenic bacteria this core genome framework is decorated with novel genetic islands that are often associated with adaptive phenotypes such as virulence. This classical genome organization is well illustrated by a group of extracellular enteric pathogens, which includes enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and Citrobacter rodentium, all of which use attaching and effacing (A/E) lesion formation as a major mechanism of tissue targeting and infection. Both EHEC and EPEC are poorly pathogenic in mice but infect humans and domestic animals. In contrast, C. rodentium is a natural mouse pathogen that is related to E. coli, hence providing an excellent in vivo model for A/E lesion forming pathogens. C. rodentium also provides a model of infections that are mainly restricted to the lumen of the intestine. The mechanism's by which the immune system deals with such infections has become a topic of great interest in recent years. Here we review the literature of C. rodentium from its emergence in the mid-1960s to the most contemporary reports of colonization, pathogenesis, transmission and immunity.     

Formation of viable but non-culturable state (VBNC) of Aeromonas hydrophila and its virulence in goldfish, Carassius auratus

In this study we investigated the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state of Aeromonas hydrophila and its virulence in goldfish. Aeromonas hydrophila cultured in a 0.35% NaCl solution at pH 7.5 and at 25 degrees C for 50 days showed the VBNC state. In the VBNC state we were unable to detect viable bacteria by the plate count method but we did find 10(4) cells/ml by the direct viable count microscopical method after staining with fluorescein diacetate and ethidium bromide. The virulence comparison in goldfish showed that bacteria cultured at 25 degrees C for 1 day in a 0.35% NaCl solution were more virulent than bacteria cultured for 28 days. VBNC bacteria showed lower virulence in goldfish compared to 28-day-cultured bacteria by intraperitoneal injection. The results from the study suggest that A. hydrophila can remain in the aquatic environment for prolonged periods in the VBNC state but those cells are not pathogenic to goldfish.     

Enteric infection with Citrobacter rodentium induces coagulative liver necrosis and hepatic inflammation prior to peak infection and colonic disease

Acute and chronic forms of inflammation are known to affect liver responses and susceptibility to disease and injury. Furthermore, intestinal microbiota has been shown critical in mediating inflammatory host responses in various animal models. Using C. rodentium, a known enteric bacterial pathogen, we examined liver responses to gastrointestinal infection at various stages of disease pathogenesis. For the first time, to our knowledge, we show distinct liver pathology associated with enteric infection with C. rodentium in C57BL/6 mice, characterized by increased inflammation and hepatitis index scores as well as prominent periportal hepatocellular coagulative necrosis indicative of thrombotic ischemic injury in a subset of animals during the early course of C. rodentium pathogenesis. Histologic changes in the liver correlated with serum elevation of liver transaminases, systemic and liver resident cytokines, as well as signal transduction changes prior to peak bacterial colonization and colonic disease. C. rodentium infection in C57BL/6 mice provides a potentially useful model to study acute liver injury and inflammatory stress under conditions of gastrointestinal infection analogous to enteropathogenic E. coli infection in humans.     

Formation of viable but non-culturable state (VBNC) of Aeromonas hydrophila and its virulence in goldfish, Carassius auratus

In this study we investigated the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state of Aeromonas hydrophila and its virulence in goldfish. Aeromonas hydrophila cultured in a 0.35% NaCl solution at pH 7.5 and at 25 °C for 50 days showed the VBNC state. In the VBNC state we were unable to detect viable bacteria by the plate count method but we did find 10⁴ cells/ml by the direct viable count microscopical method after staining with fluorescein diacetate and ethidium bromide. The virulence comparison in goldfish showed that bacteria cultured at 25 °C for 1 day in a 0.35% NaCl solution were more virulent than bacteria cultured for 28 days. VBNC bacteria showed lower virulence in goldfish compared to 28-day-cultured bacteria by intraperitoneal injection.The results from the study suggest that A. hydrophila can remain in the aquatic environment for prolonged periods in the VBNC state but those cells are not pathogenic to goldfish.     

IL-6-dependent mucosal protection prevents establishment of a microbial niche for attaching/effacing lesion-forming enteric bacterial pathogens

Enteric infections with attaching/effacing lesion-inducing bacterial pathogens are a worldwide health problem. A murine infection model with one such pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium, was used to elucidate the importance of the pleiotropic immune regulator, IL-6, in the pathogenesis of infection. IL-6 was strongly induced in colonic epithelial cells and macrophages upon C. rodentium infection and was required for effective host defense, because mice lacking IL-6 failed to control bacterial numbers 2-3 wk after infection and exhibited increased mortality. IL-6 was not needed for mounting effective T and B cell responses to the pathogens, nor was it important for induction of IFN-gamma or TNF-alpha, cytokines involved in host defense against the bacteria, or the antibacterial effector, NO. Instead, IL-6 played a key role in mucosal protection, since its absence was associated with marked infection-induced apoptosis in the colonic epithelium and subsequent ulcerations. Cell culture studies confirmed that IL-6 protected colon epithelial cells directly against inducible apoptosis, which was accompanied by increased expression of an array of genes encoding antiapoptotic proteins, including Bcl-x(L), Mcl-1, cIAP-2, and Bcl-3. Ulcerations appeared to be pathogenetically important, because bacteria localized preferentially to those regions, and chemically induced colonic ulcerations promoted bacterial colonization. Furthermore, blood components likely present in ulcer exudates, particularly alanine, asparagine, and glycine, promoted bacterial growth. Thus, IL-6 is an important regulator of host defense against C. rodentium by protecting the mucosa against ulcerations which can act as a microbial niche for the bacteria.     

Citrobacter rodentium infection causes iNOS-independent intestinal epithelial dysfunction in mice

Attaching-effacing bacteria are major causes of infectious diarrhea in humans worldwide. Citrobacter rodentium is an attaching-effacing enteric pathogen that causes transmissible murine colonic mucosal hyperplasia. We characterized colonic inflammation and ion transport at 3, 7, 10, 30, and 60 d after infection of C57Bl/6 mice with C. rodentium. Macroscopic damage score was significantly increased 7 and 10 d after infection. Colonic wall thickness was increased at 7, 10, 30, and 60 d. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was significantly increased at 3, 7, and 10 d and returned to control levels by days 30 and 60. The expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 were increased by C. rodentium infection. Significant reductions in the epithelial secretory response to carbachol, but not to electrical field stimulation or forskolin, were observed at 3 and 10 d of infection. Translocation of enteric bacteria into the mesenteric lymph nodes was observed 10 d following infection. There was no difference in response to infection between animals deficient in inducible nitric oxide synthase and wild-type controls. The COX-2 inhibitor rofecoxib caused decreased wall thickness and MPO activity at day 10. However, COX-2 inhibition did not alter infection-induced changes in ion transport. Citrobacter rodentium infection causes colonic inflammation, mucosal hyperplasia, and nitric-oxide-independent epithelial dysfunction in association with increased permeability to luminal bacteria.     

Pathogenicity of Helicobacter rodentium in A/JCr and SCID mice

Helicobacter rodentium was first recognized as a potential pathogen when it was isolated, along with Helicobacter bilis, from a colony of scid/Trp53 knockout mice with diarrhea. Clinical disease in these mice was more severe than that previously reported in mice infected with H. bilis alone, thus suggesting that H. rodentium contributed to the pathogenesis of enteritis. The purpose of the study reported here was to address two questions: is H. rodentium pathogenic in mice, and when co-infection with a pathogenic helicobacter occurs, does H. rodentium augment disease? To this end, A/JCr and C.B-17/IcrCrl-scidBr mice were inoculated with H. rodentium and/or H. hepaticus. Twelve weeks after inoculation, mice were euthanized. The cecum and liver were evaluated microscopically for evidence of disease. Cecal interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha (MIP-1alpha), interleukin 10 (IL-10), and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) mRNA values were measured as an indicator of mucosal immune response. Hepatic lesions were not identified in mice mono-infected with H. rodentium; likewise, cecal lesion scores were not significantly different from those of uninfected controls. With the exception of an increased IL-10 mRNA value in SCID mice, mean immune-related gene expression in H. rodentium mono-infected and uninfected control mice was not significantly different. In contrast, all mice infected with H. hepaticus developed moderate to severe hepatitis, significant increase in cecal lesion scores, and increased immune-related gene expression. The C.B-17/IcrCrl-scidBr mice co-infected with H. hepaticus and H. rodentium had liquid cecal contents and low terminal body weight. Further, compared with mice infected with H. hepaticus alone, co-infection was associated with significant increases of IL-10, MIP-1alpha, and IP-10 mRNA values in C.B-17/IcrCrl-scidBr and IFN-gamma and MIP-1alpha mRNA values in A/JCr mice. These results suggested that H. rodentium alone does not cause hepatitis or enteritis in A/JCr or C.B-17/IcrCrl-scidBr mice; however, co-infection with H. hepaticus and H. rodentium was associated with augmented cecal gene expression and clinical manifestation of disease in immunodeficient mice.     

Comparison of bacteriological, genetic and pathological characters between Escherichia coli O115a,c:K(B) and Citrobacter rodentium.

Murine pathogenic Escherichia coli O115a,c:K(B) (MPEC) is the causative agent of mouse megaenteron, the pathology of which resembles that of transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia caused by Citrobacter rodentium. We compared their genetic and pathological features to reveal the relationship between these two bacteria. To evaluate the genetic distances, 16S rDNA genes were sequenced and biochemical reactions were tested. Mouse strain susceptibility tests, using CF1 MPEC-susceptible germfree mice and BALB/cA(Jic) resistant mice were performed. MPEC strains and C. rodentium showed more than 99.6% identity by comparison of 16S rDNA gene sequences. All results from biochemical reactions and the mouse strain susceptibility tests were identical. It is proposed that MPEC should be reclassified as C. rodentium.