In vitro invasive capacity of Salmonella strains into sections of the layer hen oviduct

Raw or undercooked eggs and egg products are frequently identified as the source of Salmonella following outbreaks of foodborne gastrointestinal disease. Some Salmonella serovars, such as Salmonella Enteriditis, have a high tropism for the oviduct of laying hens. Oviduct colonization with S. Enteriditis can result in both internal and external contamination of an egg. While oviduct invasion is not limited to S. Enteriditis, the invasive capacities of other serovars is not widely known. In this study, the in vitro invasive ability of eighteen Salmonella isolates of representative serovars into different segments of the oviduct was assessed. All Salmonella isolates tested were invasive and the highest bacterial invasion was observed in segments of the isthmus and vagina. S. Bredeney consistently exhibited the lowest invasion into all sections of the oviduct. Interestingly, the S. Typhimurium definitive types included in this study did not exhibit significantly greater invasion capacity than other serovars. In this study, the genomic capacity of the selected isolates of representative Salmonella serovars to colonize the layer hen oviduct was also investigated. Previous studies have identified several genes upregulated during oviduct colonization by S. Enteriditis. Single gene comparison of 107 genes from eleven Salmonella isolates was conducted to determine whether these oviduct colonization genes were present within each bacterial genome. The degree of homology with corresponding sequences in S. Enteriditis P125109 was also determined for each gene. Genes encoding the O-antigen as well as phage and virulence plasmid genes were among the most highly variable and may serve specific roles in oviduct invasion.