6N-labelled LacZ sequence of Vibrio cholerae wild-type and flagellar regulon mutants in the intestine of adult mice with or without methionine addition

Vibrio cholerae flagellar mutants are frequently detected in environmental and clinical samples. However, the contribution of its flagella or motility to pathogenicity remains mysterious and confusing. We found that a motility-defective mutant library of V. cholerae displayed oppositive colonization properties negatively correlated with the secretion of FlgM in adult mice. FlgM ultimately affects intestinal colonisation by influencing methionine metabolism. Furthermore, we constructed a library based on the insertion of a unique 6N marker at the V. cholerae lacZ gene position, and obtained the relative abundance of 26 flagellar regulon mutants versus wild-type in the intestine of adult mice with or without methionine addition.