Growth and secretion by Campylobacter jejuni under anaerobic conditions (360G-Wellcome-211660_Z_18_Z)

Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis and thus poses a significant health risk. The bacteria is part of the natural microbiome of the chicken caecum where it appears to function as a non-invasive commensal but in the human intestine the organism becomes invasive and pathogenic. The Ó Cróinín group have recently reported that DNA supercoiling plays a key role in inducing this invasive phenotype and that relaxation of DNA supercoiling is associated with an increase in invasion and the appearance of an invasion associated secretive. This group have also unpublished data which reveals that DNA supercoiling allows the bacteria to survive and grow under anaerobic conditions which normally do not support growth. Given the anaerobic nature of some areas of the human intestine this could indicate that relaxation of DNA supercoiling could be critical in allowing this bacteria to both secrete virulence factors as well as to survive and grow under anaerobic conditions. The aim of this study is thus to investigate and characterise the effect of DNA supercoiling on the ability of the bacteria to grow under anaerobic conditions as well as to compare the secretion of proteins by microorganisms grown under anaerobic and microaerophilic conditions