Tracing the Spread of Clostridium difficile Ribotype 027 in Germany Based on Bacterial Genome Sequences

We applied whole-genome sequencing to reconstruct the spatial and temporal dynamics underpinning the expansion of Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 in Germany. Based on re-sequencing of genomes from 57 clinical C. difficile isolates, which had been collected from hospitalized patients at 36 locations throughout Germany between 1990 and 2012, we demonstrate that C. difficile genomes have accumulated sequence variation sufficiently fast to document the pathogen''s spread at a regional scale. We detected both previously described lineages of fluoroquinolone-resistant C. difficile ribotype 027, FQR1 and FQR2. Using Bayesian phylogeographic analyses, we show that fluoroquinolone-resistant C. difficile 027 was imported into Germany at least four times, that it had been widely disseminated across multiple federal states even before the first outbreak was noted in 2007, and that it has continued to spread since.     

Prophage Carriage and Diversity within Clinically Relevant Strains of Clostridium difficile

Prophages are encoded in most genomes of sequenced Clostridium difficile strains. They are key components of the mobile genetic elements and, as such, are likely to influence the biology of their host strains. The majority of these phages are not amenable to propagation, and therefore the development of a molecular marker is a useful tool with which to establish the extent and diversity of C. difficile prophage carriage within clinical strains. To design markers, several candidate genes were analyzed including structural and holin genes. The holin gene is the only gene present in all sequenced phage genomes, conserved at both terminals, with a variable mid-section. This allowed us to design two sets of degenerate PCR primers specific to C. difficile myoviruses and siphoviruses. Subsequent PCR analysis of 16 clinical C. difficile ribotypes showed that 15 of them are myovirus positive, and 2 of them are also siphovirus positive. Antibiotic induction and transmission electron microscope analysis confirmed the molecular prediction of myoviruses and/or siphovirus presence. Phylogenetic analysis of the holin sequences identified three groups of C. difficile phages, two within the myoviruses and a divergent siphovirus group. The marker also produced tight groups within temperate phages that infect other taxa, including Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium botulinum, and Bacillus spp., which suggests the potential application of the holin gene to study prophage carriage in other bacteria. This study reveals the high incidence of prophage carriage in clinically relevant strains of C. difficile and correlates the molecular data to the morphological observation.     

犬冠状病毒流行株膜蛋白基因序列分析及其表达研究

对国内分离的犬冠状病毒(CCoV)DXMV、V1和V2流行毒株膜蛋白(M)基因进行了扩增、测序和遗传进化分析.3个CCoV流行毒株M基因全长均为792bp,编码263个氨基酸,其中前17个氨基酸为信号肽.DXMV、V1和V2流行株与Insavc-1疫苗株M基因相比,核苷酸的同源性分别为92.6% 、90.9%和91.6%,推导的氨基酸序列的同源性分别为92.5%、92.0%和92.3% ,在M基因前1/3区域内存在变异,其中74-76、120-124和131-135三个区域变异较大.国内DXMV、V1、V2、NJ1和NJ1-17 5个流行株M基因核苷酸同源性为96.6%,推导的氨基酸序列同源性为96.4%,显示出很高的保守性.基于M基因的遗传进化分析表明,目前国内绝大多数CCoV流行毒株都属于CCoV基因II型,只有Fox3-1和Rac2-1两个毒株属于基因I型.另外,将DXMV株M基因亚克隆到pET28a中,在BL21(DE3)中实现了M蛋白的表达,表达量约占菌体蛋白的10.2%.     

Variations in Virulence and Molecular Biology among Emerging Strains of Clostridium difficile

SUMMARY

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming organism which infects and colonizes the large intestine, produces potent toxins, triggers inflammation, and causes significant systemic complications. Treating C. difficile infection (CDI) has always been difficult, because the disease is both caused and resolved by antibiotic treatment. For three and a half decades, C. difficile has presented a treatment challenge to clinicians, and the situation took a turn for the worse about 10 years ago. An increase in epidemic outbreaks related to CDI was first noticed around 2003, and these outbreaks correlated with a sudden increase in the mortality rate of this illness. Further studies discovered that these changes in CDI epidemiology were associated with the rapid emergence of hypervirulent strains of C. difficile, now collectively referred to as NAP1/BI/027 strains. The discovery of new epidemic strains of C. difficile has provided a unique opportunity for retrospective and prospective studies that have sought to understand how these strains have essentially replaced more historical strains as a major cause of CDI. Moreover, detailed studies on the pathogenesis of NAP1/BI/027 strains are leading to new hypotheses on how this emerging strain causes severe disease and is more commonly associated with epidemics. In this review, we provide an overview of CDI, discuss critical mechanisms of C. difficile virulence, and explain how differences in virulence-associated factors between historical and newly emerging strains might explain the hypervirulence exhibited by this pathogen during the past decade.     

犬冠状病毒流行株膜蛋白基因序列分析及其表达研究

对国内分离的犬冠状病毒(CCoV)DXMV、V1和V2流行毒株膜蛋白(M)基因进行了扩增、测序和遗传进化分析。3个CCoV流行毒株M基因全长均为792bp,编码263个氨基酸,其中前17个氨基酸为信号肽。DXMV、V1和V2流行株与Insavc-1疫苗株M基因相比,核苷酸的同源性分别为92.6%、90.9%和91.6%,推导的氨基酸序列的同源性分别为92.5%、92.0%和92.3%,在M基因前1/3区域内存在变异,其中74-76、120-124和131-135三个区域变异较大。国内DXMV、V1、V2、NJ1和NJ1-175个流行株M基因核苷酸同源性为96.6%,推导的氨基酸序列同源性为96.4%,显示出很高的保守性。基于M基因的遗传进化分析表明,目前国内绝大多数CCoV流行毒株都属于CCoV基因II型,只有Fox3-1和Rac2-1两个毒株属于基因I型。另外,将DXMV株M基因亚克隆到pET28a中,在BL21(DE3)中实现了M蛋白的表达,表达量约占菌体蛋白的10.2%。     

Sequence Analysis of the Mitochondrial Genome of Sarcophyton glaucum: Conserved Gene Order Among Octocorals

The nucleotide sequence for an 11,715-bp segment of the mitochondrial genome of the octocoral Sarcophyton glaucum is presented, completing the analysis of the entire genome for this anthozoan member of the phylum Cnidaria. The genome contained the same 13 protein-coding and 2 ribosomal RNA genes as in other animals. However, it also included an unusual mismatch repair gene homologue reported previously and codes for only a single tRNA gene. Intermediate in length compared to two other cnidarians (17,443 and 18,911 bp), this organellar genome contained the smallest amount of noncoding DNA (428, compared to 1283 and 781 nt, respectively), making it the most compact one found for the phylum to date. The mitochondrial genes of S. glaucum exhibited an identical arrangement to that found in another octocoral, Renilla kolikeri, with five protein-coding genes in the same order as has been found in insect and vertebrate mitochondrial genomes. Although gene order appears to be highly conserved among octocorals, compared to the hexacoral, Metridium senile, few similarities were found. Like other metazoan mitochondrial genomes, the A + T composition was elevated and a general bias against codons ending in G or C was observed. However, an exception to this was the infrequent use of TGA compared to TGG to code for tryptophan. This divergent codon bias is unusual but appears to be a conserved feature among two rather distantly related anthozoans. Received: 27 January 1998 / Accepted: 25 May 1998     

Identification of a Conserved Core Genome with Group‐Specific Genes from Comparative Genomics of Ten Different Candidatus Phytoplasma Strains

Plant pathogenic phytoplasmas can infect hundreds of plant species and lead to enormous economic loss. To understand the interactions between phytoplasmas and their hosts, genome sequencing plays an important role. To date, ten phytoplasma genomes from five phylogenetic groups have been released. A comparative genomics analysis showed 170 common conserved genes existing in these ten genomes. Genes involved in translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis (75 genes) are the largest proportion. Interestingly, the predicted secreted proteins were not found in our core set, suggesting that these genes were diverse. In addition, a highly stringent strategy was taken to mine the group‐specific genes among the five groups. Although the largest part was the hypothetical proteins, some putative secreted proteins (potential effectors) were identified. TENGU was selected to be one of the 16SrI group‐specific genes. This may partly account for the diverse pathogenicity in different 16Sr groups. In addition, our results revealed that Amp and Imp had great potentials of being group specific. Above all, based on the conserved genes, our results provide new insights for the phytoplasma genome assembly, identification and functional genomics.     

Distribution of Clostridial cry-Like Genes Among Bacillus thuringiensis and Clostridium Strains

The presence of two cry-like genes first identified in Clostridium bifermentans subsp. malaysia CH18 was investigated in Clostridium species including 12 subspecies of Clostridium bifermentans, 13 strains of other members of Clostridia genus, and 13 different subspecies of Bacillus thuringiensis. Oligonucleotides designed to amplify the two toxin genes, cmb71 and cmb72, were used. We found that these genes are present in 80% of the Clostridium bifermentans strains tested and in 8% of the other Clostridium and Bacillus thuringiensis strains. Received: 22 July 1997 / Accepted: 15 October 1997     

Biovar Diversity Is Reflected by Variations of Genes Encoding Urease of Ureaplasma urealyticum

Five oligonucleotide primers derived from the gene encoding urease of Ureaplasma urealyticum were designed to evaluate the relationship between the urease gene and biovar diversity of this organism. Five combinations of these primers were tested by PCR and the result revealed that there were variations in urease genes among different serovars of U. urealyticum. This result, in agreement with other PCRs based on other functionally unrelated (rRNA and MB antigen) genes, may reflect the phylogenetic relationship among organisms taxonomically classified as U. urealyticum.     

我国四株埃可病毒6型全基因组序列及重组特征分析

埃可病毒6型(Echovirus 6,ECHO6)作为肠道病毒B组(Enterovirus B,EV-B)的一员,在临床上常导致无菌性脑膜炎(Aseptic meningitis,AM)、急性弛缓性麻痹(Acute flaccid paralysis,AFP)、手足口病(Hand,foot,and mouth disease,HFMD)等多种疾病。本文挑选四株中国大陆地区不同年份、地区及疾病严重程度的代表毒株进行全基因组测定分析,与GenBank上ECHO6全长代表株及EV-B组原型株比对分析,了解其进化特征,并筛选BLAST结果的EV-B组流行株,探究我国流行的ECHO6与其他血清型的基因重组特征。结果提示,本研究四株ECHO6毒株在非结构蛋白区与EV-B其他血清型均发生重组,其中死亡病例标本重组模式更为复杂,可能与疾病严重程度有关。通过本研究分析,可进一步揭示ECHO6的遗传特征,为肠道病毒血清型研究提供基础数据,对了解其进化变异及临床致病力影响具有重要意义。     

Genome Analysis of Listeria monocytogenes Sequence Type 8 Strains Persisting in Salmon and Poultry Processing Environments and Comparison with Related Strains

Listeria monocytogenes is an important foodborne pathogen responsible for the disease listeriosis, and can be found throughout the environment, in many foods and in food processing facilities. The main cause of listeriosis is consumption of food contaminated from sources in food processing environments. Persistence in food processing facilities has previously been shown for the L. monocytogenes sequence type (ST) 8 subtype. In the current study, five ST8 strains were subjected to whole-genome sequencing and compared with five additionally available ST8 genomes, allowing comparison of strains from salmon, poultry and cheese industry, in addition to a human clinical isolate. Genome-wide analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) confirmed that almost identical strains were detected in a Danish salmon processing plant in 1996 and in a Norwegian salmon processing plant in 2001 and 2011. Furthermore, we show that L. monocytogenes ST8 was likely to have been transferred between two poultry processing plants as a result of relocation of processing equipment. The SNP data were used to infer the phylogeny of the ST8 strains, separating them into two main genetic groups. Within each group, the plasmid and prophage content was almost entirely conserved, but between groups, these sequences showed strong divergence. The accessory genome of the ST8 strains harbored genetic elements which could be involved in rendering the ST8 strains resilient to incoming mobile genetic elements. These included two restriction-modification loci, one of which was predicted to show phase variable recognition sequence specificity through site-specific domain shuffling. Analysis indicated that the ST8 strains harbor all important known L. monocytogenes virulence factors, and ST8 strains are commonly identified as the causative agents of invasive listeriosis. Therefore, the persistence of this L. monocytogenes subtype in food processing facilities poses a significant concern for food safety.     

Genome Sequencing and Analysis of BCG Vaccine Strains

Background

Although the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) has been available for more than 75 years, one third of the world''s population is still infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and approximately 2 million people die of TB every year. To reduce this immense TB burden, a clearer understanding of the functional genes underlying the action of BCG and the development of new vaccines are urgently needed.

Methods and Findings

Comparative genomic analysis of 19 M. tuberculosis complex strains showed that BCG strains underwent repeated human manipulation, had higher region of deletion rates than those of natural M. tuberculosis strains, and lost several essential components such as T-cell epitopes. A total of 188 BCG strain T-cell epitopes were lost to various degrees. The non-virulent BCG Tokyo strain, which has the largest number of T-cell epitopes (359), lost 124. Here we propose that BCG strain protection variability results from different epitopes. This study is the first to present BCG as a model organism for genetics research. BCG strains have a very well-documented history and now detailed genome information. Genome comparison revealed the selection process of BCG strains under human manipulation (1908–1966).

Conclusions

Our results revealed the cause of BCG vaccine strain protection variability at the genome level and supported the hypothesis that the restoration of lost BCG Tokyo epitopes is a useful future vaccine development strategy. Furthermore, these detailed BCG vaccine genome investigation results will be useful in microbial genetics, microbial engineering and other research fields.     

Sequence Analysis of the 36-kb Region Between gntZ and trnY Genes of Bacillus Subtilis Genome*

Within the framework of an international Bacillus subtilis genomesequencing project, we have determined a 36-kb sequence coveringthe region between the gntZ and trnY genes. In addition to fivegenes sequenced and characterized previously, 27 putative proteincoding sequences (open reading frame; ORF) were identified.A homology search for the newly identified ORFs revealed thatsix of them had similarities to known proteins. It is notablethat new ORFs belonging to response-regulator aspartate phosphatase(Rap) and its regulator (Phr) families, and response regulatorand sensory kinase families of two-component signal transductionsystems have been identified. Furthermore, we found that some180-bp non-coding sequence, that might be an remnant of an ancientIS element, is preserved in at least five loci of the B. subtilisgenome.     

Genome Comparison and Phylogenetic Analysis of Orientia tsutsugamushi Strains

Orientia tsutsugamushi (OT) is an obligate intracellular bacterium belonging to the family Rickettsiaceae and is the causative agent of scrub typhus, or Tsutsugamushi disease. The complete genome sequences of two OT strains (Boryong and Ikeda) have recently been determined. In the present study, we performed a fine genome sequence comparison of these strains. Our results indicate that although the core gene set of the family Rickettsiaceae is highly conserved between the two strains, a common set of repetitive sequences have been explosively amplified in both genomes. These amplified repetitive sequences have induced extensive genome shuffling and duplications and deletions of many genes. On the basis of the results of the genome sequence comparison, we selected 11 housekeeping genes and carried out multilocus sequence analysis of OT strains using the nucleotide sequences of these genes. This analysis revealed for the first time the phylogenetic relationships of representative OT strains. Furthermore, the results suggest the presence of an OT lineage with higher potential for virulence, which may explain the clinical and epidemiological differences between ‘classic’ and ‘new’ types of Tsutsugamushi disease in Japan.