C. jejuni colonization along the gastrointestinal tract
and translocation into MLNs of defined recolonized gnotobiotic mice.
Gnotobiotic mice were generated by antibiotic gut decontamination,
recolonized with E. coli (Ec, gray circles),
Lactobacillus johnsonii (Lj, white circles), a
Lactobacilli-mix (L-mix, crossed circles), a mix of E.
coli and L. johnsonii (Ec+Lj, crossed gray
circles), sterile PBS (none, solid circles), or a complex conventional
murine SPF microbiota (solid squares), and orally infected with
C. jejuni strain ATCC 43431 as described in the
section titled Materials and methods. The pathogen densities in distinct
compartments of the gastrointestinal tract (A–D) and mesenteric lymph
nodes (MLNs, E) were determined by quantification of live C.
jejuni in luminal samples taken from (A) stomach, (B)
duodenum, (C) ileum, and (D) colon at day 12 p.i. by cultural analysis
(CFU, colony forming units). Numbers of animals harboring C.
jejuni out of the total number of analyzed animals are
given in parentheses. Medians (black bars) and levels of significance
(P-values) determined by
Mann–Whitney-U test are indicated. Data shown are
representative for three independent experiments