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Identification of outbreak-associated and other strains of Clostridium difficile by numerical analysis of SDS-PAGE protein patterns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

M. Costas ,
B. Holmes ,
M. Ganner ,
S. L. W. On ,
P. N. Hoffman ,
M. A. Worsley  and
H. Panigrahi
M. Costas
Affiliation:
National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, London NW9 5HT
B. Holmes
Affiliation:
National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, London NW9 5HT
M. Ganner
Affiliation:
National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, London NW9 5HT
S. L. W. On
Affiliation:
National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, London NW9 5HT
P. N. Hoffman
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Hospital Infection, Central Public Health Laboratory, London NW9 5HT
M. A. Worsley
Affiliation:
Infection Control, North Manchester General Hospital, Crumpsall, Manchester M8 6RB, England
H. Panigrahi
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, North Manchester General Hospital, Crumpsall, Manchester M8 6RB, England
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Seventy-three cultures of Clostridium difficile isolated both during, and in the period immediately following, an outbreak of infection in a group of three hospitals, were characterized by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) of whole-cell proteins. Each protein pattern was characterized by the presence of one or two dense bands which were highly reproducible. The protein patterns were used as the basis for a numerical analysis which divided the strains into five phenons (electrophoretic or EP types). The majority, 60 of the 73 cultures, belonged to a single phenon which included strains from both patients and the environment. We conclude that high-resolution SDS–PAGE of proteins provides an effective method for typing C. difficile and therefore for tracing the possible spread of epidemic strains in hospitals and other institutions, thereby allowing a better understanding of the epidemiology of the organism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 113 , Issue 1 , August 1994 , pp. 1 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

References

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