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. 1994 Aug;113(1):1–12. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800051402

Identification of outbreak-associated and other strains of Clostridium difficile by numerical analysis of SDS-PAGE protein patterns.

M Costas 1, B Holmes 1, M Ganner 1, S L On 1, P N Hoffman 1, M A Worsley 1, H Panigrahi 1
PMCID: PMC2271216  PMID: 8062865

Abstract

Seventy-three cultures of Clostridium difficile isolated both during, and in the period immediately following, an outbreak of infection in a group of three hospitals, were characterized by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of whole-cell proteins. Each protein pattern was characterized by the presence of one or two dense bands which were highly reproducible. The protein patterns were used as the basis for a numerical analysis which divided the strains into five phenons (electrophoretic or EP types). The majority, 60 of the 73 cultures, belonged to a single phenon which included strains from both patients and the environment. We conclude that high-resolution SDS-PAGE of proteins provides an effective method for typing C. difficile and therefore for tracing the possible spread of epidemic strains in hospitals and other institutions, thereby allowing a better understanding of the epidemiology of the organism.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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