Salmonella enteritidis temperature-sensitive mutants protect mice against challenge with virulent Salmonella strains of different serotypes

GHERARDI MM; GOMEZ MI; GARCIA VE; SORDELLI DO; CERQUETTI MC

FEMS IMMUNOLOGY AND MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY

Blackwell Publishers

Lugar: UK; Año: 2000 vol. 29 p. 81 - 88

0928-8244

The protection conferred by temperature-sensitive mutants of Salmonella enteritidis against different wild-type Salmonella serotypes was investigated. Oral immunization with the single temperature-sensitive mutant E/1/3 or with a temperature-sensitive thymine-requiring double mutant (E/1/3T) conferred: (i) significant protection against the homologous wild-type Salmonella strains; (ii) significant cross-protection toward high challenge doses of S. typhimurium. Significant antibody levels against homologous lipopolysaccharide and against homologous and heterologous protein antigens were detected in sera from immunized mice. Moreover, a wide range of protein antigens from different Salmonella O serotypes were recognized by sera from immunized animals. Besides, primed lymphocytes from E/1/3 immunized mice recognized Salmonella antigens from different serotypes. Taken together, these results indicate that temperature-sensitive mutants of S. enteritidis are good candidates for the construction of live vaccines against Salmonella.