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Infect Immun, June 1998, p. 2803-2808, Vol. 66, No. 6
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Multiple Fimbrial Adhesins Are Required for Full Virulence of Salmonella typhimurium in Mice

Adrianus W. M. van der Velden,1 Andreas J. Bäumler,1,2 Renée M. Tsolis,1,3 and Fred Heffron1,*

Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon 97201,1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, College Station, Texas 77843-1114,2 and Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-44673

Received 1 December 1997/Returned for modification 14 January 1998/Accepted 31 March 1998

Adhesion is an important initial step during bacterial colonization of the intestinal mucosa. However, mutations in the Salmonella typhimurium fimbrial operons lpf, pef, or fim only moderately alter mouse virulence. The respective adhesins may thus play only a minor role during infection or S. typhimurium may encode alternative virulence factors that can functionally compensate for their loss. To address this question, we constructed mutations in all four known fimbrial operons of S. typhimurium: fim, lpf, pef, and agf. A mutation in the agfB gene resulted in a threefold increase in the oral 50% lethal dose (LD50) of S. typhimurium for mice. In contrast, an S. typhimurium strain carrying mutations in all four fimbrial operons (quadruple mutant) had a 26-fold increased oral LD50. The quadruple mutant, but not the agfB mutant, was recovered in reduced numbers from murine fecal pellets, suggesting that a reduced ability to colonize the intestinal lumen contributed to its attenuation. These data are evidence for a synergistic action of fimbrial operons during colonization of the mouse intestine and the development of murine typhoid fever.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., L220, Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 494-6841. Fax: (503) 494-6862. E-mail: heffronf{at}ohsu.edu.

Infect Immun, June 1998, p. 2803-2808, Vol. 66, No. 6
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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