Salmonella entericaserotype Typhimurium requires a functional type III secretion system encoded bySalmonellapathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) to cause diarrhea. We investigated the role of genes encoding secreted target proteins of the SPI1-associated type III secretion system for enteropathogenicity in calves.Salmonellaserotype Typhimurium strains having mutations insptP,avrA,sspH1, orslrPinduced fluid secretion in the bovine ligated ileal loop model at levels similar to that of the wild type. In contrast, mutations insipA,sopA,sopB,sopD, orsopE2significantly reduced fluid accumulation in bovine ligated ileal loops at 8 h postinfection. A strain carrying mutations insipA,sopA,sopB,sopD, andsopE2(sipA sopABDE2mutant) caused the same level of fluid accumulation in bovine ligated ileal loops as a strain carrying a mutation insipB, a SPI1 gene required for the translocation of effector proteins into host cells. A positive correlation was observed between the severity of histopathological lesions detected in the ileal mucosa and the levels of fluid accumulation induced by the different mutants. After oral infection of calves, theSalmonellaserotype TyphimuriumsipAsopABDE2mutant caused only mild diarrhea and was more strongly attenuated than strains having only single mutations. These data demonstrate that SipA, SopA, SopB, SopD, and SopE2 are major virulence factors responsible for diarrhea duringSalmonellaserotype Typhimurium infection of calves.

The host response to Salmonella plays a major role in the outcome of infection. The present study was undertaken to further characterize Salmonella typhimurium infection in neonatal calves at both the morphologic and the molecular level using the ligated ileal loop model. Eight 4–5-week-old male Holstein calves underwent laparotomy, and loops were prepared in the ileum. The loops were either inoculated with an S. typhimurium strain pathogenic for cattle or injected with sterile LB broth as control. Samples for histology, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and RNA extraction were collected at various time points between 5 minutes and 12 hours postinfection. Invasion of both M cells and enterocytes began at 15 minutes postinfection. No specific cell type was the main target for invasion. Intracellular bacteria were observed in the lamina propria after 1 hour postinfection. A severe acute neutrophilic response was associated with invasion of the Peyer's patches. Upregulated expression of CXC chemokines (interleukin [IL]-8, growth-related oncogenes, [GRO] α and γ, and granulocyte chemotactic protein [GCP]2) was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction beginning at 1 hour postinfection. Expression of proinflammatory (IL-1β, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]α) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10, IL-1Ra, and IL-4) cytokines was also assessed. A marked increase in expression of IL-1β was observed, whereas the profile of expression of IL-18 and TNFα did not change after infection. Upregulation of IL-1Ra and IL-4 but not of IL-10 was observed. These findings indicate that infection of bovine ligated ileal loops with S. typhimurium results in an acute neutrophilic inflammatory response that is associated with the upregulation of CXC chemokines (IL-8, GROα and γ, and GCP2), IL-1β, IL-1Ra, and IL-4.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative agent of chronic enteritis in ruminants (Johne's disease) and a possible etiopathologic agent in human Crohn's disease. The host-pathogen interaction in this chronic disease has largely depended on the randomly collected static lesions studied in subclinically or clinically infected animals. We have established and utilized the neonatal calf ligated ileal loop model to study the early temporal host changes during MAP infection. After inoculation of ligated ileal loop with MAP, samples were analyzed for bacterial invasion, histologic and ultrastructural morphologic changes, and gene expression at several times (0.5–12 hours) postinfection. Our results indicate that MAP invades the intestinal mucosa as early as 0.5 hour postinoculation. Distribution and migration of neutrophils, monocytes/macrophages, and goblet cells were confirmed by histopathology, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Coincident with the morphologic analysis, we measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction gene expression of various cytokines/chemokines that are involved in the recruitment of mononuclear and polymorphonuclear leukocytes to the site of infection. We also detected expression of several other genes, including intestinal-trefoil factor, profilin, lactoferrin, and enteric β-defensin, which may play significant roles in the early MAP infection. Thus, the calf ligated intestinal loop model may be used as a human disease model to understand the role of MAP in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease.

Immunomagnetic bead separation coupled with bead beating and real-time PCR was found to be a very effective procedure for the isolation, separation, and detection ofMycobacterium aviumsubsp.paratuberculosisfrom milk and/or fecal samples from cattle and American bison. Samples were spiked withM. aviumsubsp.paratuberculosisorganisms, which bound to immunomagnetic beads and were subsequently lysed by bead beating; then protein and cellular contaminants were removed by phenol-chloroform-isopropanol extraction prior to DNA precipitation. DNA purified by this sequence of procedures was then analyzed by conventional and real-time IS900-based PCR in order to detectM. aviumsubsp.paratuberculosisin feces and milk. By use of this simple and rapid technique, 10 or fewerM. aviumsubsp.paratuberculosisorganisms were consistently detected in milk (2-ml) and fecal (200-mg) samples, making this sensitive procedure very useful and cost-effective for the diagnosis of clinical and subclinical Johne's disease (paratuberculosis) compared to bacteriological culture, which is constrained by time, labor, and expense under diagnostic laboratory conditions.

To establish a replicative niche during its infectious cycle between the intestinal lumen and tissue, the enteric pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium requires numerous virulence genes, including genes for two type III secretion systems (T3SS) and their cognate effectors. To better understand the host-pathogen relationship, including early infection dynamics and induction kinetics of the bacterial virulence program in the context of a natural host, we monitored the subcellular localization and temporal expression of T3SS-1 and T3SS-2 using fluorescent single-cell reporters in a bovine, ligated ileal loop model of infection. We observed that the majority of bacteria at 2 h postinfection are flagellated, express T3SS-1 but not T3SS-2, and are associated with the epithelium or with extruding enterocytes. In epithelial cells, S . Typhimurium cells were surrounded by intact vacuolar membranes or present within membrane-compromised vacuoles that typically contained numerous vesicular structures. By 8 h postinfection, T3SS-2-expressing bacteria were detected in the lamina propria and in the underlying mucosa, while T3SS-1-expressing bacteria were in the lumen. Our work identifies for the first time the temporal and spatial regulation of T3SS-1 and -2 expression during an enteric infection in a natural host and provides further support for the concept of cytosolic S . Typhimurium in extruding epithelium as a mechanism for reseeding the lumen. IMPORTANCE The pathogenic bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium invades and persists within host cells using distinct sets of virulence genes. Genes from Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1) are used to initiate contact and facilitate uptake into nonphagocytic host cells, while genes within SPI-2 allow the pathogen to colonize host cells. While many studies have identified bacterial virulence determinants in animal models of infection, very few have focused on virulence gene expression at the single-cell level during an in vivo infection. To better understand when and where bacterial virulence factors are expressed during an acute enteric infection of a natural host, we infected bovine jejunal-ileal loops with S . Typhimurium cells harboring fluorescent transcriptional reporters for SPI-1 and -2 (P invF and P ssaG , respectively). After a prescribed time of infection, tissue and luminal fluid were collected and analyzed by microscopy. During early infection (≤2 h), bacteria within both intact and compromised membrane-bound vacuoles were observed within the epithelium, with the majority expressing SPI-1. As the infection progressed, S . Typhimurium displayed differential expression of the SPI-1 and SPI-2 regulons, with the majority of tissue-associated bacteria expressing SPI-2 and the majority of lumen-associated bacteria expressing SPI-1. This underscores the finding that Salmonella virulence gene expression changes as the pathogen transitions from one anatomical location to the next.