Isolation and Characterization of Temperate Bacteriophages of <i>Clostridium difficile</i>

Abstract

The lack of information on bacteriophages of Clostridium difficile prompted this study. Three of 56 clinical C. difficile isolates yielded double-stranded DNA phages phiC2, phiC5, phiC6, and phiC8 upon induction. Superinfection and DNA analyses revealed relatedness between the phages, while partial sequencing of phiC2 showed nucleotide homology to the sequenced C. difficile strain CD630.