Open AccessDetection of Differences in the Nucleotide and Amino Acid Sequences of Diphtheria Toxin from Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans Causing Extrapharyngeal Infections
Author(s) -
Andreas Sing,
Michael Hogardt,
Suse Bierschenk,
Jürgen Heesemann
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of clinical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.349
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1070-633X
pISSN - 0095-1137
DOI - 10.1128/jcm.41.10.4848-4851.2003
Subject(s) - corynebacterium diphtheriae , diphtheria toxin , diphtheria , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , corynebacterium , virology , toxin , genetics , bacteria , vaccination
While Corynebacterium ulcerans can mimic classical diphtheria, extrapharyngeal infections are extremely rare. Sequencing of the diphtheria toxin (DT)-encoding tox gene of two C. ulcerans isolates from extrapharyngeal infections revealed differences from C. diphtheriae DT sequences, mainly in the translocation and receptor-binding domains. C. ulcerans supernatants were much less potent than supernatant from C. diphtheriae. A C. ulcerans DT-specific PCR is described below.