This research will assess the effects of different environmental conditions on the glycosylation status of surface molecules of the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) under in vitro and simulated in vivo conditions. Environmental factors that may impact glycosylation include growth conditions such as temperature, iron availability, pH, and osmolarity, along with host specific conditions. Such host specific conditions will be modeled using intestinal cell lines and an artificial gut simulation. C. jejuni has a large number of glycoproteins, in addition to lipooligosaccharide/lipopolysaccharide (LOS/LPS) and polysaccharide capsule. The environmental cues leading to LPS/LOS biosynthesis and capsule production have been studied in several bacterial species, but not previously in C. jejuni. Additionally, the potential signals resulting in glycosylation of bacterial proteins have largely been ignored. Thus this study will extend the information about glycosylation regulation to both a bacterial species and a class of molecule in which it has been little examined.
The glycosylated surface molecules of bacterial species are important to their adherence and invasiveness. This research will increase the understanding of signals necessary for the production of these sugar-containing structures. This project is being funded under the NSF POWRE program.