PubMed · 6352669
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1983. Tetanus update.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6352669/
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Clinical evidence has long pointed to the existence of Clostridium tetani in Costa Rica. Thirty soil samples were studied for clostridia, and two yielded six strains of C. tetani, four of which proved to be toxigenic when mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with the culture supernates. These four isolates could be neutralized when their toxic supernates were admixed with tetanus antitoxin.
We report that the streptococcal resistance transposon, Tn916, is conjugally transferred to Clostridium tetani (Utrecht) in intergenic matings. Streptococcus faecalis CG180, harboring a 41-kb plasmid (pAM180) containing Tn916 (15 kb), transferred the transposon-associated tetracycline resistance (Tcr) to C. tetani in filter matings at a frequency of about 10(-4)/donor. An erythromycin resistance marker carried by pAM180 was not transferred, indicating lack of plasmid conjugation or stable inheritance of plasmid sequences. DNA extracted from C. tetani transconjugants was probed with radiolabeled Tn916 using Southern blot analysis and these results indicated that the transposon integrated at multiple host genomic sites. Tn916-carrying C. tetani strains were able to transfer Tcr to suitable recipient strains of C. tetani as well as to S. faecalis recipients. These results indicate that this transposon is able to be disseminated and expressed in obligately anaerobic gram-positive bacteria. Moreover, this system opens avenues for the implementation of transposon mutagenesis in this important pathogenic species.
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