Linked Life Data

16701609

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/16701609

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-5-16
pubmed:abstractText
Clostridium perfringens is an important pathogen in veterinary and medical fields. Diseases caused by this organism are in many cases life threatening or fatal. At the same time, it is part of the ecological community of the intestinal tract of man and animals. Virulence in this species is not fully understood and it does seem that there is erratic distribution of the toxin/enzyme genes within C. perfringens population. We used the recently developed multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) scheme to investigate the evolution of virulence and population structure of this species. Analysis of the phylogenetic signal indicates that acquisition of the major toxin genes as well as other plasmid-borne toxin genes is a recent evolutionary event and their maintenance is essentially a function of the selective advantage they confer in certain niches under different conditions. In addition, it indicates the ability of virulent strains to cause disease in different host species. More interestingly, there is evidence that certain normal flora strains are virulent when they gain access to a different host species. Analysis of the population structure indicates that recombination events are the major tool that shapes the population and this panmixia is interrupted by frequent clonal expansion that mostly corresponds to disease processes. The signature of positive selection was detected in alpha toxin gene, suggesting the possibility of adaptive alleles on the other chromosomally encoded determinants. Finally, C. perfringens proved to have a dynamic population and availability of more genome sequences and use of comparative proteomics and animal modeling would provide more insight into the virulence of this organism.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
1075-9964
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
12
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
23-43
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Clostridium perfringens: insight into virulence evolution and population structure.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology, University of Arizona, Room 207, 1117 East Lowell Street, Tucson AZ 85721, USA. sawiresy@email.arizona.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study