| Summary: | Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi is the cause of typhoid fever and infects over 21 million cases and causes 200,000 deaths each year. S. Typhi only infects humans and this has greatly limited studies of S. Typhi pathogenesis. To study bacterial gene expression in human hosts, we used Selective Capture of Transcribed Sequences (SCOTS) and array hybridization to identify S. Typhi mRNAs expressed in the blood of 5 patients with S. Typhi infection. In total, we detected the expression of 2,046 S. Typhi genes (44% of the S. Typhi genome) in human blood; of these, 1,320 (29% of the S. Typhi genome) had significantly different levels of detection in human blood compared to in vitro cultures. Our results provide insight into S. Typhi pathogenesis, identifying both previously described and novel interactions occurring between host and microbe during the natural course of human infection. Further study of these genes, especially those of unknown function, may further our understanding of S. Typhi pathogenesis and aid in vaccine, diagnostic, and/or drug target development.
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