Open AccessDifferentiation of the Gene Clusters Encoding Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A Complexes in Clostridium botulinum Type A, Ab, and A(B) Strains
Author(s) -
Giovanna Franciosa,
Francesca Floridi,
Antonella Maugliani,
Paolo Aureli
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
applied and environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.552
H-Index - 324
eISSN - 1070-6291
pISSN - 0099-2240
DOI - 10.1128/aem.70.12.7192-7199.2004
Subject(s) - clostridium botulinum , neurotoxin , clostridiaceae , gene , botulinum neurotoxin , biology , genetics , botulism , microbiology and biotechnology , type (biology) , toxin , biochemistry , ecology
We describe a strategy to identify the clusters of genes encoding components of the botulinum toxin type A (boNT/A) complexes in 57 strains of Clostridium botulinum types A, Ab, and A(B) isolated in Italy and in the United States from different sources. Specifically, we combined the results of PCR for detecting the ha33 and/or p47 genes with those of boNT/A PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Three different type A toxin gene clusters were revealed; type A1 was predominant among the strains from the United States, whereas type A2 predominated among the Italian strains, suggesting a geographic distinction between strains. By contrast, no relationship between the toxin gene clusters and the clinical or food source of strains was evident. In two C. botulinum type A isolates from the United States, we recognized a third type A toxin gene cluster (designated type A3) which was similar to that previously described only for C. botulinum type A(B) and Ab strains. Total genomic DNA from the strains was subjected to pulsed-filed gel electrophoresis and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analyses, and the results were consistent with the boNT/A gene clusters obtained.