Ultrastructure and complex polar architecture of the human pathogen Campylobacter jejuni

Creators: Müller, Axel; Beeby, Morgan; McDowall, Alasdair W.; Chow, Janet; Jensen, Grant J.; Clemons, William M., Jr.

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most successful food-borne human pathogens. Here we use electron cryotomography to explore the ultrastructure of C. jejuni cells in logarithmically growing cultures. This provides the first look at this pathogen in a near-native state at macromolecular resolution (~5 nm). We find a surprisingly complex polar architecture that includes ribosome exclusion zones, polyphosphate storage granules, extensive collar-shaped chemoreceptor arrays, and elaborate flagellar motors.

Additional Information

© 2014 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Article first published online: 25 Jul 2014. Manuscript Accepted: 27 Jun 2014. Manuscript Revised: 17 Jun 2014. Manuscript Received: 18 Mar 2014. We thank Sarkis Mazmanian (Caltech) for providing facilities and expertise for microaerophilic growth of C. jejuni. We also thank Julien Jorda (Todd Yeates group at UCLA) for analyzing the C. jejuni genome for genes involved in microcompartment genesis. This project was funded by awards from the Searle Scholar program, the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Career Award for the Biological Sciences (both to W. M. C.), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Beckman Center at Caltech, and a gift from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

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