A Clonal Lineage of Fusarium oxysporum Circulates in the Tap Water of Different French Hospitals.
Fusarium oxysporum is typically a soilborne fungus but can also be found in aquatic environments. In hospitals, water distribution systems may be reservoirs for the fungi responsible for nosocomial infections. F. oxysporum was previously detected in the water distribution systems of five French hospitals. Sixty-eight isolates from water representative of all hospital units that were previously sampled and characterized by translation elongation factor 1α sequence typing were subjected to microsatellite analysis and full-length ribosomal intergenic spacer (IGS) sequence typing. All but three isolates shared common microsatellite loci and a common two-locus sequence type (ST). This ST has an international geographical distribution in both the water networks of hospitals and among clinical isolates. The ST dominant in water was not detected among 300 isolates of F. oxysporum that originated from surrounding soils. Further characterization of 15 isolates by vegetative compatibility testing allowed us to conclude that a clonal lineage of F. oxysporum circulates in the tap water of the different hospitals.



We demonstrated that a clonal lineage of Fusarium oxysporum inhabits the water distribution systems of several French hospitals. This clonal lineage, which appears to be particularly adapted to water networks, represents a potential risk for human infection and raises questions about its worldwide distribution.
INRA, UMR1347 Agroécologie, Dijon, France veronique.edel@dijon.inra.fr.
Véronique
V
Edel-Hermann
Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Plateau Technique de Biologie du CHU, Dijon, France UMR PAM A 02.102 Procédés Alimentaires et Microbiologiques, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, AgroSup Dijon, Dijon, France.
Marc
M
Sautour
INRA, UMR1347 Agroécologie, Dijon, France.
Nadine
N
Gautheron
INRA, UMR1347 Agroécologie, Dijon, France.
Julie
J
Laurent
Hospital Hygiene and Epidemiology Unit, Hôpital du Bocage, Dijon, France.
Serge
S
Aho
Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Plateau Technique de Biologie du CHU, Dijon, France UMR PAM A 02.102 Procédés Alimentaires et Microbiologiques, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, AgroSup Dijon, Dijon, France.
Alain
A
Bonnin
Environmental Microbiology, Plateau Technique de Biologie du CHU, Dijon, France.
Nathalie
N
Sixt
Department Environment and Public Health, Nancy University, Hospital Hygiene Unit, Vandoeuvre-Nancy, France.
Philippe
P
Hartemann
Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Plateau Technique de Biologie du CHU, Dijon, France UMR PAM A 02.102 Procédés Alimentaires et Microbiologiques, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, AgroSup Dijon, Dijon, France.
Frédéric
F
Dalle
INRA, UMR1347 Agroécologie, Dijon, France.
Christian
C
Steinberg
D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D060585:Fusariosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005670:Fusarium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D060766:Drinking Water; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1
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