Summary
Colonic spirochetosis is a disease of humans and animals characterized by colonization of the colonic mucus gel and intimate attachment of Serpulina pilosicoli to the apical membrane of enterocytes. Motility-regulated mucin association plays a key role in colonie infection by the related spirochete Serpulina hyodysenteriae, the cause of swine dysentery. In this study the chemotaxis of Serpulina pilosicoli porcine isolate P43/6/78, human isolate SP16, and canine isolate 16242-94 was examined by anaerobic incubation of each spirochete in control medium or medium containing increasing concentrations of D-L serine or porcine gastric mucin (PGM). The porcine isolate had a chemotactic response towards 10 mM D-L serine, but not towards PGM. By contrast, the human and canine isolates were attracted towards 0.1% PGM, but not towards DL-serine. The composition of the growth medium appeared to modulate the chemotactic response of S. pilosicoli towards PGM; the loss of a chemotactic response of spirochetes grown in medium without pig fecal extract was restored by growing the spirochetes in medium containing 0.1% PGM. Serpulina pilosicoli displays a chemotactic response towards PGM which is modulated by the presence of certain substrate during the growth phase of the spirochete.
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Witters, N.A., Duhamel, G.E. (1999). Motility-Regulated Mucin Association of Serpulina Pilosicoli, the Agent of Colonic Spirochetosis of Humans and Animals. In: Paul, P.S., Francis, D.H. (eds) Mechanisms in the Pathogenesis of Enteric Diseases 2. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 473. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4143-1_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4143-1_20
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