Passive Bacteriocin Typing of Strains of Clostridium perfringens Type A Causing Food Poisoning for Epidemiologic Studies

1980 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
pp. 899-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. C. Satija ◽  
K. G. Narayan
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Type A ◽  
Epidemiologic Studies ◽  
Bacteriocin Typing

scholarly journals The assessment and application of a bacteriocin typing scheme forClostridium perfringens

1985 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. N. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Computer Programs ◽  
Typing Scheme ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bacteriocin Typing ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Susceptibility Patterns

SUMMARYA collection of 50 bacteriocins was assembled and used to type 802 isolates ofClostridium perfringensfrom food poisoning outbreaks and a variety of other sources. It was found that strains of the same serotype within an outbreak showed similar patterns of susceptibility to bacteriocins, and the use of a ‘one difference’ rule is proposed for interpretation of the typing patterns of epidemiologically related strains. Isolates of different serotype or of the same serotype isolated from different sources produced many variations in bacteriocin susceptibility patterns.Two computer programs were developed to assist in the interpretation of bacteriocin typing patterns. Their use showed that related and unrelated strains formed different clusters and enabled a range of the 20 most discriminatory bacteriocins to be selected.Isolates ofC. perfringensfrom a wide range of sources were screened for their ability to produce bacteriocins. A much greater proportion of the strains from food poisoning outbreaks was bacteriocinogenic than were isolates from human and animal infections, various foods and the environment. The relevance of these findings to the occurrence ofC. perfringensfood poisoning is discussed.

scholarly journals Organization of the Plasmid cpe Locus in Clostridium perfringens Type A Isolates

2002 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 4261-4272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuaki Miyamoto ◽  
Ganes Chakrabarti ◽  
Yosiharu Morino ◽  
Bruce A. McClane
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Horizontal Transfer ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Type A ◽  
Gastrointestinal Diseases ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Enterotoxin Gene ◽  
Genetic Element ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Food Borne

ABSTRACT Clostridium perfringens type A isolates causing food poisoning have a chromosomal enterotoxin gene (cpe), while C. perfringens type A isolates responsible for non-food-borne human gastrointestinal diseases carry a plasmid cpe gene. In the present study, the plasmid cpe locus of the type A non-food-borne-disease isolate F4969 was sequenced to design primers and probes for comparative PCR and Southern blot studies of the cpe locus in other type A isolates. Those analyses determined that the region upstream of the plasmid cpe gene is highly conserved among type A isolates carrying a cpe plasmid. The organization of the type A plasmid cpe locus was also found to be unique, as it contains IS1469 sequences located similarly to those in the chromosomal cpe locus but lacks the IS1470 sequences found upstream of IS1469 in the chromosomal cpe locus. Instead of those upstream IS1470 sequences, a partial open reading frame potentially encoding cytosine methylase (dcm) was identified upstream of IS1469 in the plasmid cpe locus of all type A isolates tested. Similar dcm sequences were also detected in several cpe-negative C. perfringens isolates carrying plasmids but not in type A isolates carrying a chromosomal cpe gene. Contrary to previous reports, sequences homologous to IS1470, rather than IS1151, were found downstream of the plasmid cpe gene in most type A isolates tested. Those IS1470-like sequences reside in about the same position but are oppositely oriented and defective relative to the IS1470 sequences found downstream of the chromosomal cpe gene. Collectively, these and previous results suggest that the cpe plasmid of many type A isolates originated from integration of a cpe-containing genetic element near the dcm sequences of a C. perfringens plasmid. The similarity of the plasmid cpe locus in many type A isolates is consistent with horizontal transfer of a common cpe plasmid among C. perfringens type A strains.

Enteropathogenic factors of food-poisoning Clostridium perfringens type A

1970 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 331-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. W. Hauschild ◽  
L. Niilo ◽  
W. J. Dorward
Keyword(s):  
Small Intestine ◽  
Polyethylene Glycol ◽  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Type A ◽  
Organic Acid Production ◽  
Experimental Animals ◽  
Rotary Evaporation ◽  
Number Of Cells

The possible involvement of the following factors in Clostridium perfringens type A enteritis was investigated: cellular constituents of C. perfringens, extracellular components, gas generated by growing cultures, and organic acid production. Lambs were used as experimental animals, and all materials were administered by the intraduodenal route.Vegetative cells (1.5 to 5 × 109) administered along with fresh medium caused diarrhea while 100 times the number of cells in spent medium or saline had no effect. Sporulating cells in saline, and their extracts, caused profuse diarrhea. Supernatant fluids from both vegetative and sporulating cultures concentrated by dialysis against polyethylene glycol had no effect, but diarrhea was produced by supernatant fluids from vegetative cultures concentrated by rotary evaporation, and by the gas generated during growth. The effect of the gas was simulated with hydrogen. The pH of the fluid in the small intestine remained constant during C. perfringens enteritis.It was concluded (i) that the factor responsible for experimental enteritis in lambs resulting from infection of the small intestine with vegetative cells of C. perfringens is produced in situ, and (ii) that of the various factors tested, a heat-sensitive, nondialyzable component of sporulating cells is most likely identical with the main enteropathogenic factor in C. perfringens enteritis.

scholarly journals Comparative Effects of Osmotic, Sodium Nitrite-Induced, and pH-Induced Stress on Growth and Survival of Clostridium perfringens Type A Isolates Carrying Chromosomal or Plasmid-Borne Enterotoxin Genes

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 7620-7625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihong Li ◽  
Bruce A. McClane
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Type A ◽  
Food Preservation ◽  
Vegetative Cells ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Resistance Phenotype ◽  
Enhanced Resistance ◽  
Enterotoxin Genes ◽  
High And Low Temperatures

ABSTRACT About 1 to 2% of Clostridium perfringens isolates carry the enterotoxin gene (cpe) necessary for causing C. perfringens type A food poisoning. While the cpe gene can be either chromosomal or plasmid borne, food poisoning isolates usually carry a chromosomal cpe gene. Previous studies have linked this association between chromosomal cpe isolates (i.e., C-cpe isolates) and food poisoning, at least in part, to both the spores and vegetative cells of C-cpe isolates being particularly resistant to high and low temperatures. The current study now reveals that the resistance phenotype of C-cpe isolates extends beyond temperature resistance to also include, for both vegetative cells and spores, enhanced resistance to osmotic stress (from NaCl) and nitrites. However, by omitting one outlier isolate, no significant differences in pH sensitivity were detected between the spores or vegetative cells of C-cpe isolates versus isolates carrying a plasmid-borne cpe gene. These results indicate that both vegetative cells and spores of C-cpe isolates are unusually resistant to several food preservation approaches in addition to temperature extremes. The broad-spectrum nature of the C-cpe resistance phenotype suggests these bacteria may employ multiple mechanisms to persist and grow in foods prior to their transmission to humans.

scholarly journals Inorganic Phosphate and Sodium Ions Are Cogerminants for Spores of Clostridium perfringens Type A Food Poisoning-Related Isolates

2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (19) ◽  
pp. 6299-6305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Paredes-Sabja ◽  
Pathima Udompijitkul ◽  
Mahfuzur R. Sarker
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Inorganic Phosphate ◽  
Dipicolinic Acid ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Type A ◽  
Gastrointestinal Diseases ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Similar Extent ◽  
Active Growth ◽  
Food Borne

ABSTRACT Clostridium perfringens type A isolates carrying a chromosomal copy of the enterotoxin (cpe) gene are involved in the majority of food poisoning (FP) outbreaks, while type A isolates carrying a plasmid-borne cpe gene are involved in C. perfringens-associated non-food-borne (NFB) gastrointestinal diseases. To cause diseases, C. perfringens spores must germinate and return to active growth. Previously, we showed that only spores of FP isolates were able to germinate with K+ ions. We now found that the spores of the majority of FP isolates, but none of the NFB isolates, germinated with the cogerminants Na+ and inorganic phosphate (NaPi) at a pH of ∼6.0. Spores of gerKA-KC and gerAA mutants germinated to a lesser extent and released less dipicolinic acid (DPA) than did wild-type spores with NaPi. Although gerKB spores germinated to a similar extent as wild-type spores with NaPi, their rate of germination was lower. Similarly, gerO and gerO gerQ mutant spores germinated slower and released less DPA than did wild-type spores with NaPi. In contrast, gerQ spores germinated to a slightly lesser extent than wild-type spores but released all of their DPA during NaPi germination. In sum, this study identified NaPi as a novel nutrient germinant for spores of most FP isolates and provided evidence that proteins encoded by the gerKA-KC operon, gerAA, and gerO are required for NaPi-induced spore germination.

Experimental gas gangrene with food-poisoning Clostridium perfringens type A

1968 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 705-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. W. Hauschild ◽  
F. S. Thatcher
Keyword(s):  
Clostridium Perfringens ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Type A ◽  
Gas Gangrene ◽  
Sheep Blood Agar ◽  
Alpha Toxin ◽  
Cell Numbers ◽  
Fatal Infection ◽  
Virulent Strains ◽  
Resistant Strains

Classical and food-poisoning strains of Clostridium perfringens type A were tested for their capacity to produce gas gangrene in guinea pigs.The virulence of food-poisoning strains producing heat-sensitive spores and showing beta hemolysis on sheep-blood agar was comparable to that of the classical strains. The most virulent strains of both groups produced fatal infection with only three to five vegetative cells. Of 13 food-poisoning, heat-sensitive strains showing no beta hemolysis, only three were lethal when a minimum of 4 × 104 to 4 × 108 cells was injected. None of the food-poisoning, heat-resistant strains produced fatal infection with cell numbers up to 4 × 108. The groups of strains showed a correlation between virulence and formation of alpha toxin in liquid culture.It is concluded that a number of heat-sensitive, beta-hemolytic strains of C. perfringens may cause gas gangrene as well as food poisoning, and that the current subdivision of C. perfringens type A strains into classical and food-poisoning groups is no longer tenable.

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