title: Multilocus sequence analysis and comparative evolution of virulence-associated genes and housekeeping genes of Clostridium difficile.
abstract: A multilocus sequence analysis of ten virulence-associated genes was performed to study the genetic relationships between 29 Clostridium difficile isolates of various origins, hosts and clinical presentations, and selected from the main lineages previously defined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of housekeeping genes. Colonization-factor-encoding genes (cwp66, cwp84, fbp68, fliC, fliD, groEL and slpA), toxin A and B genes (tcdA and tcdB), and the toxin A and B positive regulator gene (tcdD) were investigated. Binary toxin genes (cdtA and cdtB) were also detected, and internal fragments were sequenced for positive isolates. Virulence-associated genes exhibited a moderate polymorphism, comparable to the polymorphism of housekeeping genes, whereas cwp66 and slpA genes appeared highly polymorphic. Isolates recovered from human pseudomembranous colitis cases did not define a specific lineage. The presence of binary toxin genes, detected in five of the 29 isolates (17 %), was also not linked to clinical presentation. Conversely, toxigenic A-B+ isolates defined a very homogeneous lineage, which is distantly related to other isolates. By clustering analysis, animal isolates were intermixed with human isolates. Multilocus sequence analysis of virulence-associated genes is consistent with a clonal population structure for C. difficile and with the lack of host specificity. The data suggest a co-evolution of several of the virulence-associated genes studied (including toxins A and B and the binary toxin genes) with housekeeping genes, reflecting the genetic background of C. difficile, whereas flagellin, cwp66 and slpA genes may undergo recombination events and/or environmental selective pressure.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Antimicrobiens et les Micro-organismes (GRAM EA 2656, IFR 23), Université de Rouen, Faculté de Médecine-Pharmacie, 22 Boulevard Gambetta, F-76183 Rouen Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lemée
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Antimicrobiens et les Micro-organismes (GRAM EA 2656, IFR 23), Université de Rouen, Faculté de Médecine-Pharmacie, 22 Boulevard Gambetta, F-76183 Rouen Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Antimicrobiens et les Micro-organismes (GRAM EA 2656, IFR 23), Université de Rouen, Faculté de Médecine-Pharmacie, 22 Boulevard Gambetta, F-76183 Rouen Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruffin
authors.affiliation: Département de Microbiologie-Immunologie, Faculté de Pharmacie Paris XI, Châtenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collignon
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Antimicrobiens et les Micro-organismes (GRAM EA 2656, IFR 23), Université de Rouen, Faculté de Médecine-Pharmacie, 22 Boulevard Gambetta, F-76183 Rouen Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lemeland
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Antimicrobiens et les Micro-organismes (GRAM EA 2656, IFR 23), Université de Rouen, Faculté de Médecine-Pharmacie, 22 Boulevard Gambetta, F-76183 Rouen Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pons
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000382:microbiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins