Abstract:[Background] Campylobacter is a major zoonotic bacterial pathogen which can colonize the intestinal tract of a variety of animals. However, adhesion and invasion to intestinal epithelial cells and chicken intestine colonization of Campylobacter strains from different hosts are unclear. [Objective] To compare the adhesion and invasion to intestinal epithelial cells and the chicken intestine colonization of Campylobacter strains from different hosts. [Methods] Five Campylobacter strains isolated from different hosts, including human-, chicken-, duck-, and bovine-derived Campylobacter jejuni strains and a porcine-derived C.coli strain, were studied. The strains were identified by multiplex PCR and tested for motility and biofilm formation ability. The adhesion of each strain to human intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2, porcine intestinal epithelial cell line IPEC-J2, and rat intestinal epithelial cell line IEC-6 was determined respectively. The invasion of each strain to intestinal epithelial cells was determined by gentamicin protection test. The differences in adhesion and invasion were statistically analyzed. Further, chickens were challenged orally with the five strains respectively. We collected the cecal samples on different days post inoculation (DPI) to determine the chicken intestine colonization ability of Campylobacter. [Results] The motility of human-derived C.jejuni was significantly higher than that of other four animal-derived Campylobacter strains, and the biofilm formation ability of bovine- and porcine-derived strains was significantly higher than that of other strains. The human-derived C.jejuni showcased stronger adhesion and weaker invasion to Caco-2 cells than animal-derived strains. The adhesion ability of duck- and bovine-derived strains to IPEC-J2 cells was significantly lower than that of other strains, and the invasion ability of the duck-derived strain was significantly lower than that of other strains. There was no significant difference in the adhesion ability of the five strains to IEC-6 cells, while the invasion ability of chicken-derived strain was significantly lower than that of other strains. The animal-derived strains showed higher colonization levels than the human-derived strain at 1, 3 and 6 DPI, while only the bovine-derived strain had significantly higher colonization level than the human-derived strain at 10 and 15 DPI. All the strains reached a stable colonization level of 8-10 Log10 (CFU/g) at 15 DPI. [Conclusion] Campylobacter strains from different hosts can adhere to and invade the intestinal epithelial cells of various animal origins and colonize chicken intestine, which suggest that Campylobacter can transmit among and colonize different animals. The results are helpful for developing targeted prevention and control measures against Campylobacter.