title: Molecular characterization and comparison of Clostridium botulinum type C avian strains.
abstract: Type C botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT/C)-producing Clostridium botulinum causes animal botulism worldwide and has become a serious problem in poultry flocks and waterfowl in Sweden. The objectives of the present study were to isolate, characterize and subtype C. botulinum type C avian isolates in order to increase the knowledge of the genetic diversity. Isolates from 13 birds were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing and BoNT/C gene detection by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Conventional PCR was used to distinguish a chimeric BoNTC/D gene, often associated with avian botulism, from the BoNT/C gene. The isolates analysed all contained the gene coding for a chimeric toxin type C/D. Two fingerprinting techniques, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD), were optimized and used to investigate the epidemiological relatedness among the strains. The isolates were divided into three different pulsotypes based upon their restriction profiles for SmaI and SalI. The RAPD system proved to be as discriminative as PFGE. This study reveals a small genetic diversity among Swedish type C strains, with a high similarity between strains from broilers and herring gulls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden. hanna.skarin@sva.se
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skarin
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blomqvist
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aspán
authors.forename: Viveca
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Båverud
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D001906:Botulism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000382:microbiology*; D002645:Chickens; D047968:Clostridium botulinum type C / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000379:methods; D014644:Genetic Variation; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000379:methods; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C109937:neurotoxin-binding protein, Clostridium