Horizontal gene transfer converts non-toxigenic Clostridium difficile strains into toxin producers

Michael S.M. Brouwer, Adam P. Roberts, Haitham Hussain, Rachel J. Williams, Elaine Allan and Peter Mullany ()
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Michael S.M. Brouwer: UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London
Adam P. Roberts: UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London
Haitham Hussain: UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London
Rachel J. Williams: UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London
Elaine Allan: UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London
Peter Mullany: UCL Eastman Dental Institute, University College London

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Clostridium difficile is a major nosocomial pathogen and the main causative agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. The organism produces two potent toxins, A and B, which are its major virulence factors. These are chromosomally encoded on a region termed the pathogenicity locus (PaLoc), which also contains regulatory genes, and is absent in non-toxigenic strains. Here we show that the PaLoc can be transferred from the toxin-producing strain, 630Δerm, to three non-toxigenic strains of different ribotypes. One of the transconjugants is shown by cytotoxicity assay to produce toxin B at a similar level to the donor strain, demonstrating that a toxigenic C. difficile strain is capable of converting a non-toxigenic strain to a toxin producer by horizontal gene transfer. This has implications for the treatment of C. difficile infections, as non-toxigenic strains are being tested as treatments in clinical trials.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3601

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