Genetic diversity, biofilm formation, and Vancomycin resistance of clinical Clostridium innocuum isolates

Chuan Chiang-Ni*, Jing Yi Huang, Chih Yun Hsu, Yi Chi Lo, Yi Ywan M. Chen, Chih Ho Lai, Cheng Hsun Chiu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

Abstract

Background: Clostridium innocuum, previously considered a commensal microbe, is a spore-forming anaerobic bacterium. C. innocuum displays inherent resistance to vancomycin and is associated with extra-intestinal infections, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and inflammatory bowel disease. This study seeks to establish a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme to explore the correlation between C. innocuum genotyping and its potential pathogenic phenotypes. Methods: Fifty-two C. innocuum isolates from Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) in Taiwan and 60 sequence-available C. innocuum isolates from the National Center for Biotechnolgy Information Genome Database were included. The concentrated sequence of housekeeping genes in C. innocuum was determined by amplicon sequencing and used for MLST and phylogenetic analyses. The biofilm production activity of the C. innocuum isolates was determined by crystal violet staining. Results: Of the 112 C. innocuum isolates, 58 sequence types were identified. Maximum likelihood estimation categorized 52 CGMH isolates into two phylogenetic clades. These isolates were found to be biofilm producers, with isolates in clade I exhibiting significantly higher biofilm production than isolates in clade II. The sub-inhibitory concentration of vancomycin seemed to minimally influence biofilm production by C. innocuum isolates. Nevertheless, C. innocuum embedded in the biofilm structure demonstrated resistance to vancomycin treatments at a concentration greater than 256 µg/mL. Conclusions: This study suggests that a specific genetic clade of C. innocuum produces a substantial amount of biofilm. Furthermore, this phenotype assists C. innocuum in resisting high concentrations of vancomycin, which may potentially play undefined roles in C. innocuum pathogenesis.

Original languageEnglish
Article number353
Pages (from-to)353
JournalBMC Microbiology
Volume24
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 18 09 2024

Bibliographical note

© 2024. The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Biofilm
  • Clostridium innocuum
  • MLST
  • Vancomycin
  • Humans
  • Genotype
  • Biofilms/growth & development
  • Phylogeny
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology
  • Genes, Essential
  • Clostridium/genetics
  • Genetic Variation
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Clostridium Infections/microbiology
  • Vancomycin Resistance/genetics
  • Vancomycin/pharmacology
  • Taiwan

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