1. The multidrug-resistant human pathogen Clostridium difficile has a highly mobile, mosaic genome
- Author
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Linda Dowd, Theresa Feltwell, Tracey Chillingworth, Stephen Baker, Zahra Hance, Brendan W. Wren, Richard A. Stabler, Nicholas R. Thomson, S. Holroyd, Anne Wright, Audrey Fraser, Sarah Sharp, Adam P. Roberts, Karen Brooks, Michael A. Quail, K. Stevens, Kay Jagels, Peter Mullany, Louise Unwin, Paul Davis, Hongmei Wang, Claire Price, Bart Barrell, Carol Churcher, Ann Cronin, Matthew T. G. Holden, Ana Cerdeño-Tárraga, Nathalie Bason, Neil F. Fairweather, Karen Mungall, Mark Simmonds, Nigel P. Minton, Julian Parkhill, Ester Rabbinowitsch, Sally Whithead, Gordon Dougan, Bruno Dupuy, Mohammed Sebaihia, Sharon Moule, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute [Cambridge], Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (LSHTM), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Eastman Dental Institute [UCL, London], University College of London [London] (UCL), MRC Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection [Imperial College, London] (CMBI), Imperial College London, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences [Nottingham, UK] (CBS), University of Nottingham, UK (UON), Génétique Moléculaire Bactérienne, Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP), This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust., We would like to acknowledge the support of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute core sequencing and informatics groups. We thank D. Gerding and G. Songer for provision of C. difficile strains, F. Barbut and J. Emerson for help with the antibiotic susceptibility tests, and the BUGs microarray facility at St. George's Hospital for provision of the C. difficile 630 microarray., and Institut Pasteur [Paris]
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[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,MESH: Base Sequence ,MESH: Genome, Bacterial ,Genome ,Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ,MESH: Clostridium difficile/pathogenicity ,MESH: Clostridium difficile/physiology ,MESH: Spores, Bacterial/physiology ,Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous ,MESH: Gastrointestinal Tract/microbiology ,Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ,Spores, Bacterial ,Genetics ,0303 health sciences ,Virulence ,Mosaicism ,Clostridium difficile ,MESH: Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/etiology ,Adaptation, Physiological ,Conjugation, Genetic ,MESH: Mosaicism ,DNA, Bacterial ,Transposable element ,Molecular Sequence Data ,Biology ,MESH: Bacterial Proteins/genetics ,MESH: Clostridium difficile/drug effects ,MESH: Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/microbiology ,MESH: DNA Transposable Elements/genetics ,03 medical and health sciences ,Bacterial Proteins ,Humans ,[SDV.BBM]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology ,MESH: Virulence/genetics ,MESH: Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial/genetics ,Gene ,030304 developmental biology ,Whole genome sequencing ,MESH: Humans ,MESH: Molecular Sequence Data ,Base Sequence ,Clostridioides difficile ,030306 microbiology ,Microarray analysis techniques ,MESH: Conjugation, Genetic ,MESH: Adaptation, Physiological ,MESH: DNA, Bacterial/genetics ,Gastrointestinal Tract ,MESH: Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ,DNA Transposable Elements ,Mobile genetic elements ,MESH: Clostridium difficile/genetics ,Genome, Bacterial - Abstract
International audience; We determined the complete genome sequence of Clostridium difficile strain 630, a virulent and multidrug-resistant strain. Our analysis indicates that a large proportion (11%) of the genome consists of mobile genetic elements, mainly in the form of conjugative transposons. These mobile elements are putatively responsible for the acquisition by C. difficile of an extensive array of genes involved in antimicrobial resistance, virulence, host interaction and the production of surface structures. The metabolic capabilities encoded in the genome show multiple adaptations for survival and growth within the gut environment. The extreme genome variability was confirmed by whole-genome microarray analysis; it may reflect the organism's niche in the gut and should provide information on the evolution of virulence in this organism.
- Published
- 2006
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