Pathogenicity and Antibiotic Resistance Diversity in Clostridium perfringens Isolates from Poultry Affected by Necrotic Enteritis in Canada

Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by C. perfringens is one of the most common diseases of poultry and results in a huge economic loss to the poultry industry, with resistant clostridial strains being a serious concern and making the treatment difficult. Whole-genome sequencing approaches represent a good tool to determine resistance profiles and also shed light for a better understanding of the pathogen. The aim of this study was to characterize, at the genomic level, a collection of 20 C. perfringens isolates from poultry affected by NE, giving special emphasis to resistance mechanisms and production of bacteriocins. Antimicrobial resistance genes were found, with the tet genes (associated with tetracycline resistance) being the most prevalent. Interestingly, two isolates carried the erm(T) gene associated with erythromycin resistance, which has only been reported in other Gram-positive bacteria. Twelve of the isolates were toxinotyped as type A and seven as type G. Other virulence factors encoding hyaluronases and sialidases were frequently detected, as well as different plasmids. Sequence types (ST) revealed a high variability of the isolates, finding new allelic combinations. Among the isolates, C. perfringens MLG7307 showed unique characteristics: it presented a toxin combination that made it impossible to toxinotype, and, despite being identified as C. perfringens, it lacked the housekeeping gene colA. Genes encoding bacteriocin BCN5 were found in five isolates even though no antimicrobial activity could be detected in those isolates. The bcn5 gene of three of our isolates was similar to one previously reported, showing two polymorphisms. Concluding, this study provides insights into the genomic characteristics of C. perfringens and a better understanding of this avian pathogen.