“Food Poisoning Pathogen May Work with Bacilli to Break Down Sugars”

Abstract

Food poisoning is caused by consumption of contaminated food and can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fever. It typically lasts for 1-2 days and can lead to considerable dehydration. Campylobacter jejuni, a common cause of food poisoning, was considered to be incapable of breaking down carbohydrates for energy. However, it was found that over half of sequenced isolates included a regulator of L-fucose that could be used to metabolize sugar. However, the steps used for the catabolism remained unknown. FucX, a C. jejuni enzyme, breaks down L-fucose and D-arabinose when cultured and both are broken down by fuc-operon encoded enzymes. The enzyme permits movement of both sugars along a non-carbohydrate utilizing C. jejuni strain. When a surplus of amino acids are available to C. jejuni, it favors them over carbohydrates. This provides evidence that a metabolic hierarchy exists within the pathogen. The study examines the nutrient metabolism of C. jejuni, and identifies its connections with other gastrointestinal microbes.