Properties of Corynephage Attachment Site and Molecular Epidemiology of <i>Corynebacterium ulcerans</i> Isolated from Humans and Animals in Japan

Abstract

Sporadic reports of Corynebacterium ulcerans infection in humans and animals have become increasingly common throughout the world. Between 2001 and 2006, five human cases, in addition to isolation of the bacterium from the carcasses of Orcinus orca and Panthera leo, were reported in Japan. While an isolate from P. leo generated only phospholipase D (PLD), the other isolates produced both PLD and diphtheria-like toxin (DLT). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis showed that isolates from P. leo and humans were genetically homologous. Southern blotting found that a human isolate was lysogenized by two corynephages coding DLT. Sequence analysis of the region of the DLT gene revealed that the integration in C. ulcerans occurred in the same manner as that in C. diphtheriae.

Zoonotic transmission of diphtheria toxin‐producing Corynebacterium ulcerans

“…Generally, infection is associated with mild respiratory and cutaneous manifestations with more serious manifestations thought to be linked to immunocompromise or inadequate vaccination (Gower et al., 2020). C. ulcerans has been isolated from many domesticated and wild animals (Eisenberg et al., 2015; Seto et al., 2008; Sting et al., 2023; Tejedor et al., 2000; Terriere et al., 2022; Thomas et al., 2022); the earliest reports of human infection were associated with the drinking of unpasteurised bovine products (Hacker et al., 2016), though companion animals such as cats and dogs are more frequently implicated in recent reports (Abbott et al., 2020; Carfora et al., 2018; Museux et al., 2023).…”

Comparative whole-genome analysis of diphtheria toxin-producing <i>Corynebacterium ulcerans</i> isolates from sheltered cats in Osaka, Japan

“…Diphtheria toxin-producing Corynebacterium ulcerans is a zoonotic pathogen that can cause diphtheria-like infectious disease [ 20 ]. The bacterium is detected in widely diverse hosts such as cats, dogs, cows, monkeys, killer whales, lions, birds, squirrels, and shrew-moles around the world [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 14 ]. It has been suggested that human C. ulcerans infection occur primarily from dogs and cats [ 3 , 4 , 11 ].…”

“…The five isolates lacked the remaining two genes, shiga toxin-like ribosome-binding protein ( rbp ) and an additional verom serine protease ( vsp2 ), which were found in 809 tox -negative C . ulcerans strains [ 14 ] ( Supplementary Table 2 ). The five cats’ isolates, harboring tox , were clarified to possess virulence factors the same as those in 0102 strains from a Japanese human patient with symptoms of dyspnea and fever in 2001 [ 7 , 11 , 13 ].…”

“…The scaffolds of the five isolates from cats contained the 12 genes encoding virulence factors; endoglycosidase (endoE), cell wall-associated hydrolase (cwlH), neuraminidase H (nanH), phospholipase D (pld), rpf-interacting protein (rfpI), five surface-anchored protein (spaB, spaC, spaD, spaE, and spaF), trypsin-like serine protease (tspA), and verom serine protease (vsp1). The five isolates lacked the remaining two genes, shiga toxin-like ribosome-binding protein (rbp) and an additional verom serine protease (vsp2), which were found in 809 tox-negative C. ulcerans strains [14] (Supplementary Table 2). The five cats' isolates, harboring tox, were clarified to possess virulence factors the same as those in 0102 strains from a Japanese human patient with symptoms of dyspnea and fever in 2001 [7,11,13].…”

Toxigenic <i>Corynebacterium ulcerans</i> Isolated from the Domestic Dog for the First Time in Japan

“…Corynebacterium ulcerans is known as a pathogen that causes purulent inflammation such as mastitis, lymphadenitis, dermatitis, and respiratory infections in various kinds of animals (1). The organism can carry a beta-corynephage similar to that which codes for the diphtheria toxin.…”