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Volume 14
Issue 12
10.3390/antibiotics14121231
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Article

Comparative Relatedness of Clostridioides difficile Strains Isolated from Humans and Companion Dogs in South Korea

by
Joo Yeol Kim
1,2,
Su Min Kwak
1,
Jae Hong Jeong
1,
Jae Young Oh
1,2,
Kwang-Won Seo
3,
Dongheui An
4,
Dokyun Kim
5,
Seok Hoon Jeong
5,
Chang-Ki Kim
6,
Kwang Jun Lee
7,* and
Jong-Chan Chae
1,2,*
1
Division of Biotechnology, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54596, Republic of Korea
2
Advanced Institute of Environment and Bioscience, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54596, Republic of Korea
3
College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
4
Seegene Medical Foundation, Seoul 04805, Republic of Korea
5
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 06273, Republic of Korea
6
Seoul Clinical Laboratories, Yongin 16954, Republic of Korea
7
Division of Zoonotic and Vector Borne Disease Research, National Institute of Health, Cheongju 28159, Republic of Korea
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Antibiotics 2025, 14(12), 1231; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14121231
Submission received: 31 October 2025 / Revised: 2 December 2025 / Accepted: 3 December 2025 / Published: 6 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drivers of Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance in Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens)
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Abstract

Background/Objectives: Clostridioides difficile is an anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium and a leading cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea. In this study, C. difficile strains isolated from human patients with diarrhea and companion dogs in South Korea were compared to reveal the potential transmission between different hosts. Methods: A total of 304 C. difficile strains were isolated, including 217 human isolates and 87 dog isolates. The strains were characterized for antimicrobial susceptibility and genotypic features, including antimicrobial resistant genes and toxin genes. In addition, comparative genomic analyses were performed to investigate their genetic relatedness. Results: Although antimicrobial susceptibility test revealed no significant difference in overall resistance, human isolates had higher resistance to moxifloxacin and cefotetan, while dog isolates showed slightly higher resistance to clindamycin and ampicillin. Resistance to vancomycin (3.7%), rifampin (8.3%), and chloramphenicol (0.9%) was observed only in human isolates. Toxin genes (tcdA and tcdB) were found in 57.1% of human isolates and 43.7% of dog isolates, while binary toxin genes (cdtA and cdtB) were detected only in isolates from humans. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis identified 34 sequence types (STs) in human isolates and 16 in dog isolates. Among them, 15 STs were detected in the isolates from both origins; notably, ST203 and ST42 were the predominant taxa that were equally derived from humans and dogs. Although tcdA and tcdB have not been previously reported in ST203, they were detected in 7 out of 34 ST203 isolates. The whole genomes of 36 representative isolates belonging to ST42 and ST203 were classified according to the STs of the source origin. Conclusions: These results indicate that similar C. difficile strain populations are present in both humans and companion dogs, which is compatible with interspecies dissemination or circulation of shared strain populations, and may also reflect host adaptation.
Keywords: Clostridioides difficile; antimicrobial resistance; toxin gene; whole-genome sequencing; companion dog Clostridioides difficile; antimicrobial resistance; toxin gene; whole-genome sequencing; companion dog

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kim, J.Y.; Kwak, S.M.; Jeong, J.H.; Oh, J.Y.; Seo, K.-W.; An, D.; Kim, D.; Jeong, S.H.; Kim, C.-K.; Lee, K.J.; et al. Comparative Relatedness of Clostridioides difficile Strains Isolated from Humans and Companion Dogs in South Korea. Antibiotics 2025, 14, 1231. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14121231

AMA Style

Kim JY, Kwak SM, Jeong JH, Oh JY, Seo K-W, An D, Kim D, Jeong SH, Kim C-K, Lee KJ, et al. Comparative Relatedness of Clostridioides difficile Strains Isolated from Humans and Companion Dogs in South Korea. Antibiotics. 2025; 14(12):1231. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14121231

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kim, Joo Yeol, Su Min Kwak, Jae Hong Jeong, Jae Young Oh, Kwang-Won Seo, Dongheui An, Dokyun Kim, Seok Hoon Jeong, Chang-Ki Kim, Kwang Jun Lee, and et al. 2025. "Comparative Relatedness of Clostridioides difficile Strains Isolated from Humans and Companion Dogs in South Korea" Antibiotics 14, no. 12: 1231. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14121231

APA Style

Kim, J. Y., Kwak, S. M., Jeong, J. H., Oh, J. Y., Seo, K.-W., An, D., Kim, D., Jeong, S. H., Kim, C.-K., Lee, K. J., & Chae, J.-C. (2025). Comparative Relatedness of Clostridioides difficile Strains Isolated from Humans and Companion Dogs in South Korea. Antibiotics, 14(12), 1231. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14121231

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