Campylobacter jejuni FlpA binds fibronectin and is required for maximal host cell adherence.

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most frequent bacterial causes of food-borne gastrointestinal disease in developed countries. Previous work indicates that the binding of C. jejuni to human intestinal cells is crucial for host colonization and disease.

Examination of Campylobacter jejuni putative adhesins leads to the identification of a new protein, designated FlpA, required for chicken colonization.

Campylobacter jejuni colonization of chickens is presumably dependent upon multiple surface-exposed proteins termed adhesins. Putative C. jejuni adhesins include CadF, CapA, JlpA, major outer membrane protein, PEB1, Cj1279c, and Cj1349c.