Energy Taxis toward Host-Derived Nitrate Supports a Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1-Independent Mechanism of Invasion

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium can cross the epithelial barrier using either the invasion-associated type III secretion system (T3SS-1) or a T3SS-1-independent mechanism that remains poorly characterized. Here we show that flagellum-mediated motility supported a T3SS-1-independent pathway for entering ileal Peyer’s patches in the mouse model. Flagellum-dependent invasion of Peyer’s patches required energy taxis toward nitrate, which was mediated by the methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein (MCP) Tsr. Generation of nitrate in the intestinal lumen required inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which was synthesized constitutively in the mucosa of the terminal ileum but not in the jejunum, duodenum, or cecum. Tsr-mediated invasion of ileal Peyer’s patches was abrogated in mice deficient for Nos2, the gene encoding iNOS. We conclude that Tsr-mediated energy taxis enables S. Typhimurium to migrate toward the intestinal epithelium by sensing host-derived nitrate, thereby contributing to invasion of Peyer’s patches.