title: Clostridium perfringens type A-E toxin plasmids.
abstract: Clostridium perfringens relies upon plasmid-encoded toxin genes to cause intestinal infections. These toxin genes are associated with insertion sequences that may facilitate their mobilization and transfer, giving rise to new toxin plasmids with common backbones. Most toxin plasmids carry a transfer of clostridial plasmids locus mediating conjugation, which likely explains the presence of similar toxin plasmids in otherwise unrelated C. perfringens strains. The association of many toxin genes with insertion sequences and conjugative plasmids provides virulence flexibility when causing intestinal infections. However, incompatibility issues apparently limit the number of toxin plasmids maintained by a single cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Theoret
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jessica A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
authors.affiliation: California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, San Bernadino Branch, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, San Bernadino, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Francisco A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Uzal
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Julian I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Rood
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Electronic address: bamcc@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: McClane
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics*; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000235:genetics*; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D010957:Plasmids; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Clostridia; Conjugation; Gastrointestinal disease; Plasmid evolution; Plasmid-encoded toxin