Affiliation:
1. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
2. Department of Bacteriology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Clostridium perfringens
can cause a plethora of diseases in humans and animals, making it a growing public health concern. Insight into
C. perfringens
genomic studies has enhanced our understanding of the diversity and evolution of this bacterium. However, most of these studies were centered on clinical strains from human and animal hosts, with limited data from environmental sources and developing countries. Here, we present genomic and phenotypic insights into
C. perfringens
strains from hospital wastewater samples from Ghana. Antibiotic susceptibility testing, toxinotyping, and whole-genome sequencing were performed on the seven
C. perfringens
isolates. The strains were susceptible to all antibiotics screened except for three strains that were resistant to clindamycin. The majority of these strains were type F strains, characterized by a chromosomally encoded
cpe
gene, whereas the remaining strains were classified as type A. The
cpe
gene is flanked upstream by IS
1469
and downstream by IS
1470
. The genotype for the type F strains was ST721, whereas the type A strains were assigned to ST722, ST143, and ST211. Our type F strains clustered with other strains all within phylogroup I, which are mostly associated with foodborne illnesses, whereas the type A strains were grouped within phylogroup III. This study provides the first genomic characterization of
C. perfringens
from West Africa and contributes to further understanding of genomic diversity in
C. perfringens
. Moreover, the possible disseminated situation of
C. perfringens
in the environment highlights the need to monitor this bacterium in clinical specimens in Ghana.
IMPORTANCE
Clostridium perfringens
causes gas gangrene and food poisoning in humans, and monitoring this bacterium is important for public health. Although whole-genome sequencing is useful to comprehensively understand the virulence, resistome, and global genetic relatedness of bacteria, limited genomic data from environmental sources and developing countries hamper our understanding of the richness of the intrinsic genomic diversity of this pathogen. Here, we successfully accumulated the genetic data on
C. perfringens
strains isolated from hospital effluent and provided the first evidence that predicted pathogenic
C. perfringens
may be disseminated in the clinical environment in Ghana. Our findings suggest the importance of risk assessment in the environment as well as the clinical setting to mitigate the potential outbreak of
C. perfringens
food poisoning in Ghana.
Funder
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology