Epithelial cell invasion and survival of Bordetella bronchiseptica.

Wild-type Bordetella bronchiseptica and a bvg mutant strain were used for invasion and survival experiments in human Caco-2 and A549 epithelial cells. Both bacterial strains were able to enter and persist within the host cells for at least a week. A significant proportion of the bacteria from both B. bronchiseptica strains but not from Bordetella pertussis were found free in the cytoplasm, suggesting different invasion and survival strategies of the two species in epithelial cells.