title: Identification of outbreak-associated and other strains of Clostridium difficile by numerical analysis of SDS-PAGE protein patterns.
abstract: Seventy-three cultures of Clostridium difficile isolated both during, and in the period immediately following, an outbreak of infection in a group of three hospitals, were characterized by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of whole-cell proteins. Each protein pattern was characterized by the presence of one or two dense bands which were highly reproducible. The protein patterns were used as the basis for a numerical analysis which divided the strains into five phenons (electrophoretic or EP types). The majority, 60 of the 73 cultures, belonged to a single phenon which included strains from both patients and the environment. We conclude that high-resolution SDS-PAGE of proteins provides an effective method for typing C. difficile and therefore for tracing the possible spread of epidemic strains in hospitals and other institutions, thereby allowing a better understanding of the epidemiology of the organism.
authors.affiliation: National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, London, England.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costas
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ganner
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: On
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Worsley
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008970:Molecular Weight; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins