Association of Campylobacter jejuni metabolic traits with multilocus sequence types

In this study, we describe the association of three Campylobacter jejuni metabolism-related traits, γ-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT), fucose permease (fucP), and secreted L-asparaginase [ansB(s)], with multilocus sequence types (STs). A total of 710 C. jejuni isolates with known STs were selected and originated from humans, poultry, bovines, and the environment. Among these isolates, we found 31.1% to produce GGT and 49.3% and 30.3% to be positive for ansB(s) and fucP, respectively. The combination of GGT production, the presence of ansB(s), and the absence of fucP was associated with ST-22, ST-586, and the ST-45 and ST-283 clonal complexes (CCs), which were the main STs and CCs found among the human and chicken isolates. The ST-21 CC was associated with the presence of fucP and was the major CC among the bovine isolates. Although the ST-61 CC was the second major CC among the bovine isolates, these isolates did not have any of the markers studied, making the role of fucP in bovine gut colonization questionable. The ST-45 CC was subdivided into three groups that were attributed solely to ST-45. One group showed a marker combination described previously, another group was found to be positive for ansB(s) only, and the third group did not have any of the markers studied. These results suggest that the host association of these markers seems to be indirect and may arise as a consequence of host-ST and -CC associations. Thus, a representative collection of STs should be tested to draw sensible conclusions in similar studies.