As Clear as Mud? Determining the Diversity and Prevalence of Prophages in the Draft Genomes of Estuarine Isolates of Clostridium difficile.

ABSTRACT: The bacterium Clostridium difficile is a significant cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. The pathogenic success of this organism can be attributed to its flexible genome which is characterized by the exchange of mobile genetic elements, and by ongoing genome evolution. Despite its pathogenic status, C. difficile can also be carried asymptomatically, and has been isolated from natural environments such as water and sediments where multiple strain types (ribotypes) are found in close proximity. These include ribotypes which are associated with disease, as well as those that are less commonly isolated from patients. Little is known about the genomic content of strains in such reservoirs in the natural environment. In this study, draft genomes have been generated for 13 C. difficile isol

SUBMITTER: Hargreaves KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4524475 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature