Purification and Characterization of Fimbriae from Salmonella Enteritidis

A human isolate of Salmonella enteritidis which displayed strong pellicle formation during static broth culture and mannose-sensitive hemagglutination produced fimbriae which were morphologically indistinguishable from type 1 fimbriae of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Fimbrin was purified to homogeneity, and the apparent molecular weight (Mr, 14,400) was markedly lower than that reported for the type 1 fimbrin of Salmonella typhimurium (Mr, 22,100). This fimbrin contained 40% hydrophobic amino acids and lacked cysteine. The sequence of the N-terminal 64 amino acids was determined, and sequence alignment revealed that although the 18 N-terminal residues of the S. enteritidis molecule shared considerable homology with Escherichia coli and S. typhimurium type 1 fimbrins, the S. enteritidis fimbrin lacked a 6- to 9-residue terminal sequence present in the other type 1 fimbrins and, after residue 18, shared little homology with the E. coli sequence. Antibodies raised to the purified S. enteritidis fimbrin bound to surface-exposed conformational epitopes on the native fimbriae and displayed pronounced serospecificity. These antibodies were used in the isolation of a nonfimbriated Tn10 insertion mutant which was unable to hemagglutinate.