We have sequenced, assembled and annotated the genome of Clostridium sordellii strain. Paraclostridium sordellii strain:SSCC42239

Clostridium sordellii is an anaerobic bacterium associated with rare but severe infections of man and animals. Human infections are associated with trauma, toxic shock and often-fatal gynaecological infections. Some strains are known to produce the large clostridial cytotoxins TcsH and TcsLH, relatives of the cytotoxins found in C. difficile, C. novyi and C. perfringens. We have undertaken a genomic analysis of a collection of C. sordellii strains derived from cases of clinical or veterinary disease. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a highly genetically diverse species. The majority of strains do not encode tcsL or tcsH, but all strains encode the putative virulence factors sordellilysin, phospholipase C and neuraminidase. Where tcsL or tcsH are present, these are localised on a plasmid. Large scale sequencing on this neglected pathogen has to date been limited, these genomes will facilitate further research on this important pathogen.

索氏梭菌（Clostridium sordellii）是一种厌氧菌，可引发人类与动物罕见但病情危重的感染。人类感染多与创伤、中毒性休克相关，且常引发致死性妇科感染。已知部分菌株可产生大型梭菌毒素TcsH与TcsLH，这类毒素与艰难梭菌（Clostridium difficile）、诺维氏梭菌（Clostridium novyi）及产气荚膜梭菌（Clostridium perfringens）所含毒素为同源物。本研究对一批源自临床或兽医学病例的索氏梭菌菌株开展了基因组分析。系统发育分析显示，该物种具有极高的遗传多样性。多数菌株不编码tcsL或tcsH基因，但所有菌株均编码推定毒力因子索氏溶素、磷脂酶C（phospholipase C）与神经氨酸酶（neuraminidase）。若菌株携带tcsL或tcsH基因，则二者均定位于质粒上。迄今为止，针对这一被忽视病原体的大规模测序研究仍较为有限，本次解析的基因组将助力针对该重要病原体的后续研究。