Prolonged colonization of mice by Vibrio cholerae El Tor O1 depends on accessory toxins. Infect Immun 2007 Oct;75(10):5043-51
Date
08/19/2007Pubmed ID
17698571Pubmed Central ID
PMC2044531DOI
10.1128/IAI.00508-07Scopus ID
2-s2.0-34848891814 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 68 CitationsAbstract
Cholera epidemics caused by Vibrio cholerae El Tor O1 strains are typified by a large number of asymptomatic carriers who excrete vibrios but do not develop diarrhea. This carriage state was important for the spread of the seventh cholera pandemic as the bacterium was mobilized geographically, allowing the global dispersion of this less virulent strain. Virulence factors associated with the development of the carriage state have not been previously identified. We have developed an animal model of cholera in adult C57BL/6 mice wherein V. cholerae colonizes the mucus layer and forms microcolonies in the crypts of the distal small bowel. Colonization occurred 1 to 3 h after oral inoculation and peaked at 10 to 12 h, when bacterial loads exceeded the inoculum by 10- to 200-fold, indicating bacterial growth within the small intestine. After a clearance phase, the number of bacteria within the small intestine, but not those in the cecum or colon, stabilized and persisted for at least 72 h. The ability of V. cholerae to prevent clearance and establish this prolonged colonization was associated with the accessory toxins hemolysin, the multifunctional autoprocessing RTX toxin, and hemagglutinin/protease and did not require cholera toxin or toxin-coregulated pili. The defect in colonization attributed to the loss of the accessory toxins may be extracellularly complemented by inoculation of the defective strain with an isogenic colonization-proficient V. cholerae strain. This work thus demonstrates that secreted accessory toxins modify the host environment to enable prolonged colonization of the small intestine in the absence of overt disease symptoms and thereby contribute to disease dissemination via asymptomatic carriers.
Author List
Olivier V, Salzman NH, Satchell KJAuthor
Nita H. Salzman MD, PhD Director, Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsBacterial Proteins
Bacterial Toxins
Carrier State
Cholera
Cholera Toxin
Colony Count, Microbial
Female
Fimbriae, Bacterial
Hemolysin Proteins
Intestines
Metalloendopeptidases
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Vibrio cholerae O1
Virulence Factors