Butyrate specifically down-regulates salmonella pathogenicity island 1 gene expression

Invasion of intestinal epithelial cells by Salmonella enterica is decreased after exposure to butyric acid. To understand the molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon, a comparative transcriptomic analysis of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium grown in medium supplemented with butyrate was performed. We found that butyrate down-regulated the expression of 19 genes common to both serovars by a factor of twofold or more, and 17 of these genes localized to the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1). These included the SPI1 regulatory genes hilD and invF. Of the remaining two genes, ampH has 91% homology to an Escherichia coli penicillin-binding protein and sopE2 encodes a type III-secreted effector protein associated with invasion but located at a separate site on the chromosome from SPI1.