A transferable plasticity region in C ampylobacter coli allows isolates of an otherwise non‐glycolytic food‐borne pathogen to catabolize glucose

Thermophilic C ampylobacter species colonize the intestine of agricultural and domestic animals commensally but cause severe gastroenteritis in humans. In contrast to other enteropathogenic bacteria, Campylobacter has been considered to be non‐glycolytic, a metabolic property originally used for their taxonomic classification. Contrary to this dogma, we demonstrate that several C ampylobacter coli strains are able to utilize glucose as a growth substrate. Isotopologue profiling experiments with 13 C ‐labeled glucose suggested that these strains catabolize glucose via the pentose phosphate and Entner‐Doudoroff ( ED ) pathways and use glucose efficiently for de novo synthesis of amino acids and cell surface carbohydrates. Whole genome sequencing of glycolytic C . coli isolates identified a genomic island located within a ribosomal RNA gene cluster that encodes for all ED pathway enzymes and a glucose permease. We could show in vitro that a non‐glycolytic C . coli strain could acquire glycolytic activity through natural transformation with chromosomal DNA of C . coli and C . jejuni subsp. doylei strains possessing the ED pathway encoding plasticity region. These results reveal for the first time the ability of a Campylobacter species to catabolize glucose and provide new insights into how genetic macrodiversity through intra‐ and interspecies gene transfer expand the metabolic capacity of this food‐borne pathogen.