Invasion of murine respiratory tract epithelial cells by Chryseobacterium meningosepticum and identification of genes present specifically in an invasive strain

Chryseobacterium meningosepticum causes severe infections in infants or adults with underlying illness. The species is highly heterogeneous, genetically composed of subgroups with different pathogenicity. Eight strains of C. meningosepticum, representing four different genomic subgroups, were evaluated for their ability to penetrate Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell monolayers and serum resistance. None of the strains showed cytotoxicity or penetration to the MDCK cells. All displayed resistance to the bactericidal activity of various normal human sera. A murine pulmonary infection model was used to compare the pathogenicity between a clinical isolate and an environmental isolate. C. meningosepticum were cleared from the lung of infected mice within 7 days following the intratracheal challenge. Electron microscopy demonstrated the large membrane protrusions, indicative of ruffles, and smaller, less organized membrane structures of the respiratory epithelial cells induced by the clinical isolate. Bacteria were observed to enter the cells as single entities in spacious vacuoles. Suppressive subtraction hybridization identified in the invasive isolate 35 distinct sequences associated with systems of energy production and conversion, transport, and secretion. In most cases, the identities between the references and the amino acid sequences deduced were low, suggesting that the functions of these sequences remain unknown.