For over 30 years a phospholipase C enzyme called alpha-toxin was thought to be the key virulence factor in necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens. However, using a gene knockout mutant we have recently shown that alpha-toxin is not essential for pathogenesis. We have now discovered a key virulence determinant. A novel toxin (NetB) was identified in a C. perfringens strain isolate...

With low temperature long time (LTLT) cooking it can take hours for meat to reach a final core temperature above 53°C and germination followed by growth of Clostridium perfringens is a concern. Available and new growth data in meats including 154 lag times (tlag), 224 maximum specific growth rates (μmax) and 25 maximum population densities (Nmax) were used to developed a model to predict growth...

Recent advances in understanding the genetics of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens, including whole genome sequencing of a chromosomal cpe strain and sequencing of several cpe-carrying large plasmids, have led to the development of molecular approaches to more precisely investigate isolates involved in human gastrointestinal diseases and isolates present in the environment. Sequence-based...

background detection of fastidious enteropathogenic bacteria in fecal samples of patients with gastroenteritis is a challenge in clinical microbiological laboratories. objectives the aim of this study was to compare the detection limits of the pcr and culture methods for the diagnosis of campylobacter spp., yersinia spp., clostridium perfringens, and clostridium difficile in human stool samples...

The SFP (Shahidi-Ferguson perfringens), TSC (tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine), EY (egg yolk)-free TSC, and OPSP (oleandomycin-polymyxin-sulfadiazine perfringens) agars have been tested for their suitability to enumerate Clostridium perfringens in naturally contaminated foods. Complete recoveries of C. perfringens were obtained in each of the four media, but only the TSC and EY-free TSC agars were ...

background and objectives: with regard to the hazards of nitrite, application of natural preservatives in order to reduce the microbial load of meat and meat products is increasing. owing to their anti-bacterial properties, red barberry and the dried residue of red grape could be suitable replacers for nitrite. materials and methods: agar dilution method was employed in order to determine the m...

Although Clostridium perfringens is recognized as an important cause of clostridial enteric diseases, only limited knowledge exists concerning the association of particular C. perfringens toxinotypes (type A to E) with gastrointestinal (GI) diseases in domestic animals. Some C. perfringens isolates also produce the newly discovered beta2-toxin (CPB2). Recent epidemiological studies suggested th...

A DNA insertion of 834 bp, designated CPF-G2Im, was identified within the alpha toxin gene (cpa) of Clostridium perfringens strain CPBC16ML, isolated from a broiler chicken. Sequence analysis of CPF-G2Im indicated that it was integrated 340 nucleotides downstream of the start codon of cpa. However, the insertion did not abolish the phospholipase C and hemolytic activities of CPBC16ML. To invest...

Breast feeding is known to protect an infant against gastrointestinal pathogens and epidemiological studies indicate that compared to breast fed infants, formula fed infants are at a greater risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Many SIDS infants have symptoms of gastrointestinal infections prior to death and one gastrointestinal pathogen associated with SIDS is Clostridium pe...

Clostridium perfringens, one of the most common causes of food poisonings, can carry the enterotoxin gene, cpe, in its chromosome or on a plasmid. C. perfringens food poisonings are more frequently caused by the chromosomal cpe-carrying strains, while the plasmid-borne cpe-positive genotypes are more commonly found in the human feces and environmental samples. Different tolerance to food proces...