ArticleGenome medicine2014
Next generation sequencing analysis of nine Corynebacterium ulcerans isolates reveals zoonotic transmission and a novel putative diphtheria toxin-encoding pathogenicity island.
Article in Genome medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Detection and diphtheria toxin status of Corynebacterium ulcerans in canine and feline clinical specimens in Japan.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2026Article
- Up-to-date MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of theJournal of clinical microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans in raw milk of a cow with acute mastitis: case report and historical review on milk-transmitted diphtheria.Infection · 2025Review
- Microevolution and genomic epidemiology of the diphtheria-causing zoonotic pathogen Corynebacterium ulcerans.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Identification ofmSphere · 2024Article
- When an underestimated zoonosis and antimicrobial resistance collide: Corynebacterium ulcerans.Access microbiology · 2024Article
- Modern technologies and solutions to enhance surveillance and response systems for emerging zoonotic diseases.Science in One Health · 2024Review
- Article
- Comparative whole-genome analysis of diphtheria toxin-producing Corynebacterium ulcerans isolates from sheltered cats in Osaka, Japan.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2023Article
- Complete Genome Sequence of Corynebacterium ulcerans Strain TSU-28, Harboring Two Diphtheria Toxin Genes, Isolated from a Patient with Diphtheria-Like Symptoms.Microbiology resource announcements · 2023Article
- Zoonotic Transmission of Diphtheria from Domestic Animal Reservoir, Spain.Emerging infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Molecular and Epidemiological Characterization of Toxigenic and Nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium belfantii, Corynebacterium rouxii, and Corynebacterium ulcerans Isolates Identified in Spain from 2014 to 2019.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2021Article
- Case Report: ToxigenicFrontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
- Phylogenomic characterisation of a novel corynebacterial species pathogenic to animals.Antonie van Leeuwenhoek · 2020Article
- Article
- Mutation and Diversity of Diphtheria Toxin in Corynebacterium ulcerans.Emerging infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Induction of Necrosis in Human Macrophage Cell Lines byInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
- NGS-based phylogeny of diphtheria-related pathogenicity factors in different Corynebacterium spp. implies species-specific virulence transmission.BMC microbiology · 2019Article
- Tox-positive Corynebacterium ulcerans in hedgehogs, GermanyEmerging microbes & infections · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundToxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans can cause a diphtheria-like illness in humans and have been found in domestic animals, which were suspected to serve as reservoirs for a zoonotic transmission. Additionally, toxigenic C. ulcerans were reported to take over the leading role in causing diphtheria in the last years in many industrialized countries.
methodsTo gain deeper insights into the tox gene locus and to understand the transmission pathway in detail, we analyzed nine isolates derived from human patients and their domestic animals applying next generation sequencing and comparative genomics.
resultsWe provide molecular evidence for zoonotic transmission of C. ulcerans in four cases and demonstrate the superior resolution of next generation sequencing compared to multi-locus sequence typing for epidemiologic research. Additionally, we provide evidence that the virulence of C. ulcerans can change rapidly by acquisition of novel virulence genes. This mechanism is exemplified by an isolate which acquired a prophage not present in the corresponding isolate from the domestic animal. This prophage contains a putative novel virulence factor, which shares high identity with the RhuM virulence factor from Salmonella enterica but which is unknown in Corynebacteria so far. Furthermore, we identified a putative pathogenicity island for C. ulcerans bearing a diphtheria toxin gene.
conclusionThe novel putative diphtheria toxin pathogenicity island could provide a new and alternative pathway for Corynebacteria to acquire a functional diphtheria toxin-encoding gene by horizontal gene transfer, distinct from the previously well characterized phage infection model. The novel transmission pathway might explain the unexpectedly high number of toxigenic C. ulcerans.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.