Bacteriophage and bacteriocin typing scheme for Clostridium difficile

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Abstract
To aid the study of the epidemiology of infection with C. difficile, bacteriophages for use in typing were sought. With mitomycin C exposure (3 .mu.g/ml), filtrates from 10 strains of C. difficile had plaque-forming lytic activity on other C. difficile strains. Individual phage were passaged and made into higher-titer stock preparations for typing. EM revealed tailed phage particles from 1 such preparation. In addition to phage, inhibitory activity without distinct plaque formation consistent with bacteriocins was observed for 20 strains. C. difficile isolates from 16 patients taken 1-14 days apart were similar in their phage sensitivity pattern; isolates from separate geographic locations showed a great variety of patterns. Thus, bacteriophage should be useful for typing strains of C. difficile.