The central, surface-exposed region of the flagellar hook protein FlgE of Campylobacter jejuni shows hypervariability among strains
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Updated: Oct 29, 2026

Detection and Isolation of Campylobacter spp. from Raw Meat
Published on: February 23, 2024
E Lüneberg1, E Glenn-Calvo, M Hartmann
1Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. elueneberg@hygiene.uni-wuerzburg.de
Abstract:
In a previous study, we observed that monoclonal antibodies raised against the hook protein FlgE of Campylobacter jejuni LIO 36, isolate 5226, bound exclusively to this strain. The aim of this study was to elucidate the molecular basis for these binding specificities. The hook protein-encoding gene flgE of C. jejuni was cloned in Escherichia coli and sequenced. The flgE genes of four additional C. jejuni strains were amplified by PCR and also sequenced. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences revealed a high degree of variability in the central parts of the FlgE proteins among the strains, including variable and hypervariable domains. These findings may indicate a selective pressure of C. jejuni hosts, forcing the bacteria to generate variations in surface-exposed antigenic determinants.
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