Deletion of peb4 gene impairs cell adhesion and biofilm formation in Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacter jejuni is a microaerophilic bacterium that causes diarrhea in humans. The first step in establishing an infection is adherence to a host cell, which involves two major cell-binding proteins, Peb1A (CBF1) and Peb4 (CBF2). Because the functional role of Peb4 on the cell adhesion remains unclear compared with that of Peb1A, a C. jejuni peb4 deletion mutant was constructed and cell adherence and ability to colonize mouse intestine were studied. The result showed that adherence of the peb4 mutant strain to INT407 cells was 1-2% that of the wild-type strain. Mouse challenge experiments showed a reduced level and duration of intestinal colonization by the mutant compared with the wild-type strain. In addition, fewer peb4 mutant cells than wild-type cells responded to stress by forming a biofilm. Proteomic analysis revealed that the expression levels of proteins involved in various adhesion, transport, and motility functions, which are required for biofilm formation by the pathogen, were lower in the peb4 mutant than in the wild-type strain. A Peb4 homolog has prolyl cis/trans-isomerase activity, suggesting that the loss of this activity in the mutant strain may be responsible for the repression of these proteins.