Transcriptomic Analysis of the Campylobacter jejuni Response to T4-Like Phage NCTC 12673 Infection

Abstract

<i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> is a frequent foodborne pathogen of humans. As <i>C. jejuni</i> infections commonly arise from contaminated poultry, phage treatments have been proposed to reduce the <i>C. jejuni</i> load on farms to prevent human infections. While a prior report documented the transcriptome of <i>C. jejuni</i> phages during the carrier state life cycle, transcriptomic analysis of a lytic <i>C. jejuni</i> phage infection has not been reported. We used RNA-sequencing to profile the infection of <i>C. jejuni</i> NCTC 11168 by the lytic T4-like myovirus NCTC 12673. Interestingly, we found that the most highly upregulated host genes upon infection make up an uncharacterized operon (<i>cj0423⁻cj0425</i>), which includes genes with similarity to T4 superinfection exclusion and antitoxin genes. Other significantly upregulated genes include those involved in oxidative stress defense and the <i>Campylobacter</i>multidrug efflux pump (CmeABC). We found that phage infectivity is altered by mutagenesis of the oxidative stress defense genes catalase (<i>katA</i>), alkyl-hydroxyperoxidase (<i>ahpC</i>), and superoxide dismutase (<i>sodB</i>), and by mutagenesis of the efflux pump genes <i>cmeA</i> and <i>cmeB</i>. This suggests a role for these gene products in phage infection. Together, our results shed light on the phage-host dynamics of an important foodborne pathogen during lytic infection by a T4-like phage.