Oral Immunization with an rfaH Mutant Elicits Protection against Salmonellosis in Mice

Loss of the transcriptional antiterminator RfaH results in virulence attenuation (>10(4)-fold increase in 50% lethal dose) of the archetypal Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain SL1344 by both orogastric and intraperitoneal routes of infection in BALB/c mice. Oral immunization with the mutant efficiently protects mice against a subsequent oral infection with the wild-type strain. Interestingly, in vitro immunoreactivity is not confined to strain SL1344; rather, it is directed also towards other serovars of S. enterica and even Salmonella bongori strains.