title: Clostridium taeniosporum is a close relative of the Clostridium botulinum Group II.
abstract: Clostridium taeniosporum is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, rod-shaped non-toxigenic organism isolated from Crimean lake silt. It is unique in forming spores from which about twelve large, flat, ribbon-like appendages emanate. These ribbon-like structures, about 4.5 microm long and 0.45 microm wide, are assembled from smaller fibrils with 5 nm diameter spherical heads attached to thin tails about 1-2 nm in diameter and about 40 nm in length. The appendages have four major components, a glycoprotein with a collagen-like region, two proteins each of which contains two conserved domains of unknown function, and an ortholog of the Bacillus subtilis spore morphogenetic protein SpoVM. Genes for three of these and other, possibly related proteins, cluster on two chromosome fragments. Here we report that C. taeniosporum is saccharolytic, non-proteolytic, and produces both acetic and butyric acid fermentation products. It synthesizes alpha-D-glucosidase and N-acetyl-beta,D-glucoseaminidase constitutively. These physiological properties are similar to those of the C. botulinum Group II. Genotypically, C. taeniosporum is also closely related to the same Group II, based on 16S rDNA sequences. C. taeniosporum differs from typical C. botulinum Group II strains because it is non-toxigenic and in forming the ribbon-like spore appendages. These major differences among otherwise closely related organisms suggest lateral transfer of genes for appendage synthesis and for toxigenicity.
authors.affiliation: Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas, One University Station A5000, Austin, Texas 78712-0162, USA. aiyer1@lsu.edu
authors.forename: Arun V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Iyer
authors.forename: Alexandra L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Blinkova
authors.forename: Shing-Yi
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Tepp
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: George N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003013:Clostridium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D010802:Phylogeny; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S