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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1919-1923, Vol. 65, No. 5
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Feed Deprivation Affects Crop Environment and
Modulates Salmonella enteritidis Colonization and Invasion
of Leghorn Hens
Juliet A.
Durant,1
Donald E.
Corrier,2
J. Allen
Byrd,2
Larry H.
Stanker,2 and
Steven
C.
Ricke1,*
Department of Poultry Science, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Texas 77843-2472,1
and Food Animal Protection Research Laboratory, USDA
Agricultural Research Service, College Station, Texas
778452
Received 13 November 1998/Accepted 10 February 1999
Leghorn hens over 50 weeks of age were assigned to two treatment
groups designated as either unmolted controls or molted. A forced molt
was induced by a 9-day feed withdrawal, and each hen was challenged
orally with 105 Salmonella enteritidis
organisms on day 4 of feed withdrawal. On days 4 and 9 of molt, the
numbers of lactobacilli and the concentrations of lactate, acetate,
propionate, and butyrate, and total volatile fatty acids in the crops
decreased while crop pH increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the molted hens compared to the controls. S. enteritidis crop and cecal colonization, in addition to spleen
and liver invasion, increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the molted hens compared to the controls. The invasive
phenotype of Salmonella spp. is complex and requires
several virulence genes which are regulated by the transcriptional
activator HilA. Samples of the crop contents from the molted and
unmolted birds were pooled separately, centrifuged, and filter
sterilized. The sterile crop contents were then used to measure the
expression of hilA. By using a lacZY
transcriptional fusion to the hilA gene in S. enteritidis, we found that hilA expression was 1.6- to 2.1-fold higher in the crop contents from molted birds than in those
from control birds in vitro. The results of the study suggest that the
changes in the microenvironment of the crop caused by feed deprivation
are important regulators of S. enteritidis survival and
influence the susceptibility of molted hens to S. enteritidis infections. Furthermore, our in vitro results
on the expression of hilA suggest that the change in crop
environment during feed withdrawal has the potential to significantly
affect virulence by increasing the expression of genes necessary for
intestinal invasion.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Poultry Science
Department, Room 101, Kleberg Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2472. Phone: (409) 862-1528. Fax: (409) 845-1921. E-mail: sricke{at}poultry.tamu.edu.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1919-1923, Vol. 65, No. 5
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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