Association between Clostridioides difficile ribotypes, restriction endonuclease analysis types, and toxin gene expression. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Watanabe, Hiroki; Koizumi, Yusuke; Matsumoto, Asami; Asai, Nobuhiro; Yamagishi, Yuka; Mikamo, Hiroshige
• Is Part Of: Anaerobe. Volume 54(2018)
• Page Start: 140
• Page End: 143
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Clostridioides difficile -- Ribotype -- Restriction endonuclease analysis -- Toxin -- Gene; CDI Clostridioides difficile infection -- REA restriction endonuclease analysis -- CDT Clostridioides difficile transferase; Anaerobic infections -- Periodicals; Anaerobic bacteria -- Periodicals; Bacterial diseases -- Periodicals; Computer network resources; Anaerobic protozoa -- Periodicals; 579.3
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2018.09.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1075-9964

Abstract

Abstract: Objectives: Clostridioides difficile strains cause severe infection. Previous studies suggested that the virulence of C. difficile is dependent on ribotype; however, this hypothesis is still controversial. We aim to investigate the relationship between ribotypes, restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) types, and toxin gene expression in C. difficile strains. Methods: We utilized 53 clinical C. difficile strains. All strains were assigned a molecular strain type using PCR ribotyping and REA typing and classified into 17 ribotypes and six REA types. The expression of toxin genes ( tcdA, tcdB, and cdtB ) in C. difficile strains were quantified by real-time PCR using each specific primer set, and expression was normalized to that of the housekeeping gene rpoA . Results: All 53 strains expressed tcdB and four strains expressed cdtB . Five strains did not express tcdA . Most ribotype and REA type strains expressed tcdA and tcdB similar to the BAA-1870 strain. In cdtB -positive strains, the cdtB expression levels were similar to those in the BAA-1870 strain. tcdA and tcdB expression levels were similar in the cdtB -positive and cdtB -negative strains. Conclusion: Toxin gene expression was not associated with the ribotype. Production of binary toxin C. difficile transferase was not related to tcdA and tcdB expression levels. Highlights: Virulence of Clostridioides difficile strains is independent of ribotype. Production of binary toxin CDT is not related to tcdA and tcdB expression. There is no association between ribotypes/REA types and toxin gene expression.