TABLE 2.
Adhesion of A. caviae strain Sch3 wild-type and mutant strains to HEp-2 and intestinal cell linesa
| Strain | Mutation | Presence of polar flagellumb | Presence of lateral flagellab | Mean no. of bacteria per cell ± SD (% decrease from wild type)c
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEp-2 | Henle 407 | Caco-2 | ||||
| Wild-type A. caviae Sch3 | + | + | 15.5 ± 6.2 | 19.5 ± 7.4 | 20.9 ± 5.1 | |
| AAR6 | lafA1::CmrlafA2::Kmr | + | − | 5.9 ± 3.2 (62) | 8.3 ± 2.1 (58) | 9.2 ± 3.6 (56) |
| AAR194d | flgH::mini-Tn5Cmr | − | + | 5.9 ± 3.2 (62) | 12.4 ± 3.6 (37) | 8.6 ± 3.9 (59) |
| AAR31 | flaA::CmrflaB::Kmr | − | ± | 0.5 ± 0.9 (97) | 0.2 ± 0.7 (99) | 2.9 ± 2.5 (88) |
| AAR31C | AAR31 plus pARP1266 (flA+flaB+flaG+flaH+flaJ+) | + | + | 14.8 ± 4.0 (4) | 16.9 ± 2.7 (13) | 17.5 ± 2.8 (17) |
| AAR400d | cheA::mini-Tn5Cmr | + | + | 8.8 ± 5.5 (43) | 9.9 ± 6.9 (49) | 8.9 ± 3.9 (57) |
a
Strains were tested on triplicate coverslips in 23, 16, and 10 separate experiments for HEp-2, Henle, and Caco-2 cells, respectively.
b
Flagellar expression was determined by transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting with whole-cell preparations (2, 8).
c
For the mutant strains AAR6, AAR194, AAR31, and AAR400, all adherence values were significantly reduced compared to the wild-type strain (P < 0.001). For two of the three cell lines (HEp-2 and Henle 407), adherence by the complemented mutant strain was not significantly different from adherence by the wild-type strain.
d
These mutants were unable to swim or swarm in agar motility assays.