Metabolic programming determines the pathogenicity of Campylobacter jejuni

Abstract Many pathogens acquire pathogenicity through a specialized capacity for metabolic adaptation, but unique adaptations in the metabolism of Campylobacter jejuni remain to be investigated. Here, we found that cultivation of C. jejuni under different conditions resulted in changes to the metabolic pathways associated with their altered pathogenicity in mice, such as highly frequent colonization and subsequent severe inflammation in the intestine. The metabolic changes involved the aspartate transferase–mediated pathway with serine as a substrate, which was required for aerobic energy generation. Our findings propose a novel pathway for controlling the pathogenicity of C. jejuni with promising preventive and therapeutic strategies for targeting bacterial metabolism.