Characteristics of in vitro virulence properties in Campylobacter sp. Isolated from chicken carcasses

Campylobacter is one of the leading cause of food poisoning in several countries. The major goal of this study was to provide the characteristics of virulence factors related with pathogenesis in Campylobacter sp. isolated from chicken carcasses in Korea. In the comparison of prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli carrying virulence-associated genes, C. jejuni carried from 23-25 of virulence genes but C. coli carried from 15-25 of virulence genes. Campylobacter isolates contained different virulence-associated genes were performed for adhesion assay. Campylobacter isolates possessed all virulence genes had a significantly greater capacity (p<0.05) to adhere than isolates with partial virulence genes. But a clear association between presence of virulence genes and adhesion ability were not reflected in this study. In CDT titer of isolates with different virulence genes, isolates showed a variable titer from 0-128 in C. jejuni and 8-64 in C. coli. Although, isolates possessed all virulence genes tested had higher CDT activity titer than isolates with partial virulence genes but cytotoxic acitivities of isolates were not in accord with presence of virulence genes.