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Sprohnle-Barrera CH, Gibson JS, Price R, Graham RM, Jennison AV, Ricca MR, Allavena RE. Fatal non-traumatic gas gangrene caused by Clostridium perfringens type A in a Siberian Husky dog. J Vet Diagn Invest 2022; 34:518-522. [PMID: 35179099 PMCID: PMC9254053 DOI: 10.1177/10406387221079066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
An 8-y-old, castrated male Siberian Husky dog was admitted to an emergency clinic with acute collapse and severe swelling of both forelimbs, ventral thorax, and axillary region. The clinical assessment, with laboratory tests and radiologic investigation, confirmed severe subcutaneous emphysema and multi-organ failure. The animal died while receiving emergency treatment. On postmortem examination, Clostridium perfringens was isolated from the subcutaneous fluid and the effusion from the thoracic and abdominal cavities. Relevant histopathology findings included subcutaneous emphysema and multi-organ perivascular and intravascular, intralesional myriad 0.5-3-µm gram-positive rod bacteria, with no associated inflammation. Whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis identified C. perfringens type A. Virulence genes detected included cpa (alpha toxin), cadA (v-toxin), colA (collagenase A), nagH (hyaluronidase), nanH, nanI, nanJ (sialidases), and pfoa (perfringolysin). These virulence genes have previously been reported to act synergistically with alpha toxin in C. perfringens-mediated gas gangrene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cleide H. Sprohnle-Barrera
- School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia (Sprohnle-Barrera, Gibson, Price, Allavena)
| | - Justine S. Gibson
- School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia (Sprohnle-Barrera, Gibson, Price, Allavena)
| | - Rochelle Price
- School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia (Sprohnle-Barrera, Gibson, Price, Allavena)
| | - Rikki M. Graham
- Public Health Microbiology, Queensland Reference Centre for Microbial and Public Health Genomics (MPHG), Forensic and Scientific Services, Health Support Queensland, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD, Australia (Graham, Jennison)
| | - Amy V. Jennison
- Public Health Microbiology, Queensland Reference Centre for Microbial and Public Health Genomics (MPHG), Forensic and Scientific Services, Health Support Queensland, Queensland Health, Brisbane, QLD, Australia (Graham, Jennison)
| | | | - Rachel E. Allavena
- Rachel E. Allavena, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia.
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Maixner F, Sarhan MS, Huang KD, Tett A, Schoenafinger A, Zingale S, Blanco-Míguez A, Manghi P, Cemper-Kiesslich J, Rosendahl W, Kusebauch U, Morrone SR, Hoopmann MR, Rota-Stabelli O, Rattei T, Moritz RL, Oeggl K, Segata N, Zink A, Reschreiter H, Kowarik K. Hallstatt miners consumed blue cheese and beer during the Iron Age and retained a non-Westernized gut microbiome until the Baroque period. Curr Biol 2021; 31:5149-5162.e6. [PMID: 34648730 PMCID: PMC8660109 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
We subjected human paleofeces dating from the Bronze Age to the Baroque period (18th century AD) to in-depth microscopic, metagenomic, and proteomic analyses. The paleofeces were preserved in the underground salt mines of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hallstatt in Austria. This allowed us to reconstruct the diet of the former population and gain insights into their ancient gut microbiome composition. Our dietary survey identified bran and glumes of different cereals as some of the most prevalent plant fragments. This highly fibrous, carbohydrate-rich diet was supplemented with proteins from broad beans and occasionally with fruits, nuts, or animal food products. Due to these traditional dietary habits, all ancient miners up to the Baroque period have gut microbiome structures akin to modern non-Westernized individuals whose diets are also mainly composed of unprocessed foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. This may indicate a shift in the gut community composition of modern Westernized populations due to quite recent dietary and lifestyle changes. When we extended our microbial survey to fungi present in the paleofeces, in one of the Iron Age samples, we observed a high abundance of Penicillium roqueforti and Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA. Genome-wide analysis indicates that both fungi were involved in food fermentation and provides the first molecular evidence for blue cheese and beer consumption in Iron Age Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Maixner
- Institute for Mummy Studies, EURAC Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
| | - Mohamed S Sarhan
- Institute for Mummy Studies, EURAC Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Kun D Huang
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo (Trento), Italy; Department of Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems and Bioresources, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy
| | - Adrian Tett
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo (Trento), Italy; CUBE (Division of Computational Systems Biology), Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alexander Schoenafinger
- Institute for Mummy Studies, EURAC Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy; Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Stefania Zingale
- Institute for Mummy Studies, EURAC Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Aitor Blanco-Míguez
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo (Trento), Italy
| | - Paolo Manghi
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo (Trento), Italy
| | - Jan Cemper-Kiesslich
- Interfaculty Department of Legal Medicine & Department of Classics, University of Salzburg, Ignaz-Harrer-Straße 79, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Wilfried Rosendahl
- Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Zeughaus C5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany; Curt-Egelhorn-Zentrum Archäomtrie, D6,3, 61859 Mannheim, Germany
| | - Ulrike Kusebauch
- Institute for Systems Biology, 401 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Seamus R Morrone
- Institute for Systems Biology, 401 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Michael R Hoopmann
- Institute for Systems Biology, 401 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Omar Rota-Stabelli
- Center Agriculture Food Environment (C3A), University of Trento, 38010 San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy
| | - Thomas Rattei
- CUBE (Division of Computational Systems Biology), Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert L Moritz
- Institute for Systems Biology, 401 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Klaus Oeggl
- Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Nicola Segata
- Department CIBIO, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo (Trento), Italy
| | - Albert Zink
- Institute for Mummy Studies, EURAC Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Hans Reschreiter
- Prehistoric Department, Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Kerstin Kowarik
- Prehistoric Department, Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
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Epigallocatechin gallate and Lactobacillus plantarum culture supernatants exert bactericidal activity and reduce biofilm formation in Clostridium perfringens. Folia Microbiol (Praha) 2021; 66:843-853. [PMID: 34170482 DOI: 10.1007/s12223-021-00891-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens forms biofilms and spores that are a source of food contamination. In this study, the antibacterial activities of Lactobacillus plantarum culture supernatants (LP-S), LP-S fractions, and the plant-derived compound epigallocatechin gallate (EG) were evaluated. Specifically, their effects on the viability and biofilm-forming ability of C. perfringens were assessed. Moreover, the expression of quorum sensing-regulated genes associated with the pathogenesis of this microorganism and that of genes involved in biofilm formation was also investigated. The results showed that both EG and the LP-S exerted bactericidal activity against all C. perfringens strains tested. The minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of EG was 75 µg/mL for all strains but ranged from 61 to 121 µg of total protein per mL for LP-S. EG exerted only minor effects on biofilm formation, whereas LP-S, particularly its 10 and 30 K fractions, significantly reduced the biofilm-forming ability of all the strains. The antibiofilm activity of LP-S was lost following preincubation with proteases, suggesting that it was mediated by a proteinaceous molecule. The treatment of C. perfringens with either EG or LP-S did not change the transcript levels of two CpAL (C. perfringens quorum-sensing Agr-like system)-related genes, agrB and agrD, which are known to be involved in the regulation of biofilms, suggesting that LP-S exerted its biofilm inhibitory activity downstream of CpAL signaling. In summary, we demonstrated the bactericidal activity of EG and LP-S against C. perfringens and antibiofilm activity of LP-S at a subinhibitory dose. Our results suggested that these compounds can be further explored for food safety applications to control agents such as C. perfringens.
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