TY - JOUR

T1 - Genomic and Phenotypic Characterization of Clostridium botulinum Isolates from an Infant Botulism Case Suggests Adaptation Signatures to the Gut

AU - Douillard, François P.

AU - Derman, Yagmur

AU - Woudstra, Cédric

AU - Selby, Katja

AU - Mäklin, Tommi

AU - Dorner, Martin B.

AU - Saxén, Harri

AU - Dorner, Brigitte G.

AU - Korkeala, Hannu

AU - Lindström, Miia

N1 - Funding Information: The study was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (ERC-CoG whyBOTher, grant agreement number 683099). The work was also financed by the HiLife Fellows Program, University of Helsinki, the Academy of Finland (grants number 299700 and 310261). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - In early life, the immature human gut microbiota is prone to colonization by pathogens that are usually outcompeted by mature microbiota in the adult gut. Colonization and neurotoxin production by a vegetative Clostridium botulinum culture in the gut of an infant can lead to flaccid paralysis, resulting in a clinical outcome known as infant botulism, a potentially life-threatening condition. Beside host factors, little is known of the ecology, colonization, and adaptation of C. botulinum to the gut environment. In our previous report, an infant with intestinal botulism was shown to be colonized by neurotoxigenic C. botulinum culture for 7 months. In an effort to gain ecological and evolutionary insights into this unusually long gut colonization by C. botulinum, we analyzed and compared the genomes of C. botulinum isolates recovered from the infant feces during the course of intoxication and isolates from the infant household dust. A number of observed mutations and genomic alterations pinpointed at phenotypic traits that may have promoted colonization and adaptation to the gut environment and to the host. These traits include motility, quorum-sensing, sporulation, and carbohydrate metabolism. We provide novel perspectives and suggest a tentative model of the pathogenesis of C. botulinum in infant botulism.

AB - In early life, the immature human gut microbiota is prone to colonization by pathogens that are usually outcompeted by mature microbiota in the adult gut. Colonization and neurotoxin production by a vegetative Clostridium botulinum culture in the gut of an infant can lead to flaccid paralysis, resulting in a clinical outcome known as infant botulism, a potentially life-threatening condition. Beside host factors, little is known of the ecology, colonization, and adaptation of C. botulinum to the gut environment. In our previous report, an infant with intestinal botulism was shown to be colonized by neurotoxigenic C. botulinum culture for 7 months. In an effort to gain ecological and evolutionary insights into this unusually long gut colonization by C. botulinum, we analyzed and compared the genomes of C. botulinum isolates recovered from the infant feces during the course of intoxication and isolates from the infant household dust. A number of observed mutations and genomic alterations pinpointed at phenotypic traits that may have promoted colonization and adaptation to the gut environment and to the host. These traits include motility, quorum-sensing, sporulation, and carbohydrate metabolism. We provide novel perspectives and suggest a tentative model of the pathogenesis of C. botulinum in infant botulism.

KW - botulism

KW - Clostridium botulinum

KW - ecology

KW - genomics

U2 - 10.1128/mbio.02384-21

DO - 10.1128/mbio.02384-21

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35499308

AN - SCOPUS:85133144366

VL - 13

JO - mBio

JF - mBio

SN - 2161-2129

IS - 3

ER -