The Susceptibility of Clostridium Perfringens Type A to Ampicillin and Penicillin G in vitro

Chemotherapy ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 303-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.H. Traub ◽  
J.C. Sherris
1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathilde Decaudin ◽  
Jean-Luc Tholozan

Different conditions of growth and sporulation of a strain of Clostridium perfringens type A (NCTC 8798) and two derived mutant strains, the lysozyme-germination dependent strain 8-6 and the revertant strain R3, have been determined. No sporulation was detected for the three strains in the Duncan and Strong (DS) medium; 100% sporulation was routinely obtained for the two mutant strains in the defined (D) medium. Factors promoting in vitro sporulation of C. perfringens type A were assayed: the volume of the culture, the type of preculture, and the addition of lysozyme in precultures. The paper also provides additional information on growth and sporulation of the mutant strains 8-6 and R3. Glucose concentrations up to 11 mM produced high percentages of sporulation. However, strain R3 still sporulated at 20% with 56 mM of glucose. A high volume of D medium led to slow growth kinetics and favoured sporulation. Faster kinetics of growth and the best percentage of sporulation were obtained with a young inoculum of the two mutant strains. On the other hand, the type of medium in the preculture (fluid thioglycollate (FTG) or basal carbonate yeast trypticase (BCYT)) did not influence the percentage of sporulation. However, while strain R3 was not affected by the addition of lysozyme in D medium, kinetics of growth were strongly influenced by this addition in strain 8-6, and the percentage of sporulation increased with a preculture in FTG medium and decreased when BCYT medium was used.Key words: Clostridium perfringens, medium, growth, sporulation.


mSphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio A. Navarro ◽  
Jihong Li ◽  
Juliann Beingesser ◽  
Bruce A. McClane ◽  
Francisco A. Uzal

ABSTRACT Clostridium perfringens type A is involved in gas gangrene in humans and animals. Following a traumatic injury, rapid bacterial proliferation and exotoxin production result in severe myonecrosis. C. perfringens alpha toxin (CPA) and perfringolysin (PFO) are the main virulence factors responsible for the disease. Recent in vitro studies have identified an Agr-like quorum-sensing (QS) system in C. perfringens that regulates the production of both toxins. The system is composed of an AgrB membrane transporter and an AgrD peptide that interacts with a two-component regulatory system in response to fluctuations in the cell population density. In addition, a synthetic peptide named 6-R has been shown to interfere with this signaling mechanism, affecting the function of the Agr-like QS system in vitro. In the present study, C. perfringens type A strain ATCC 3624 and an isogenic agrB-null mutant were tested in a mouse model of gas gangrene. When mice were intramuscularly challenged with 106 CFU of wild-type ATCC 3624, severe myonecrosis and leukocyte aggregation occurred by 4 h. Similar numbers of an agrB-null mutant strain produced significantly less severe changes in the skeletal muscle of challenged mice. Complementation of the mutant to regain agrB expression restored virulence to wild-type levels. The burdens of all three C. perfringens strains in infected muscle were similar. In addition, animals injected intramuscularly with wild-type ATCC 3624 coincubated with the 6-R peptide developed less severe microscopic changes. This study provides the first in vivo evidence that the Agr-like QS system is important for C. perfringens type A-mediated gas gangrene. IMPORTANCE Clostridium perfringens type A strains produce toxins that are responsible for clostridial myonecrosis, also known as gas gangrene. Toxin production is regulated by an Agr-like quorum-sensing (QS) system that responds to changes in cell population density. In this study, we investigated the importance of this QS system in a mouse model of gas gangrene. Mice challenged with a C. perfringens strain with a nonfunctional regulatory system developed less severe changes in the injected skeletal muscle compared to animals receiving the wild-type strain. In addition, a synthetic peptide was able to decrease the effects of the QS in this disease model. These studies provide new understanding of the pathogenesis of gas gangrene and identified a potential therapeutic target to prevent the disease.


2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 8362-8370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Harrison ◽  
Deepa Raju ◽  
Helen S. Garmory ◽  
Moira M. Brett ◽  
Richard W. Titball ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning is caused by C. perfringens isolates carrying a chromosomal enterotoxin gene (cpe), while non-food-borne gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and sporadic diarrhea (SD), are caused by C. perfringens plasmid cpe isolates. A recent study reported the association of beta2 toxin (CPB2) with human GI diseases, and particularly AAD/SD, by demonstrating that a large percentage of AAD/SD isolates, in contrast to a small percentage of food poisoning isolates, carry the beta2-toxin gene (cpb2). This putative relationship was further tested in the current study by characterizing 14 cpe + C. perfringens fecal isolates associated with recent cases of human SD in England (referred to hereafter as SD isolates). These SD isolates were all classified as cpe + type A, and 12 of the 14 cpe + isolates carry their cpe gene on the plasmid and 2 carry it on the chromosome. Interestingly, cpb2 is present in only 12 plasmid cpe isolates; 11 isolates carry cpe and cpb2 on different plasmids, but cpe and cpb2 are located on the same plasmid in one isolate. C. perfringens enterotoxin is produced by all 14 cpe + SD isolates. However, only 10 of the 12 cpe +/cpb2 + SD isolates produced CPB2, with significant variation in amounts. The levels of cpb2 mRNA in low- to high-CPB2-producing SD isolates differed to such an extent (30-fold) that this difference could be considered a major cause of the differential level of CPB2 production in vitro by SD isolates. Furthermore, no silent or atypical cpb2 was found in a CPB2 Western blot-negative isolate, 5422/94, suggesting that the lack of CPB2 production in 5422/94 was due to low expression of cpb2 mRNA. This received support from our observation that the recombinant plasmid carrying 5422/94 cpb2, which overexpressed cpb2 mRNA, restored CPB2 production in F4969 (a cpb2-negative isolate). Collectively, our present results suggest that CPB2 merits further study as an accessory toxin in C. perfringens-associated SD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
Dalia Hamza ◽  
Sohad Dorgham ◽  
Ashraf Hakim

Abstract Introduction: The toxinotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium perfringens strains isolated from processed chicken meat were determined. Material and Methods: Two hundred processed chicken meat samples from luncheon meats, nuggets, burgers, and sausages were screened for Clostridium perfringens by multiplex PCR assay for the presence of alpha (cpa), beta (cpb), epsilon (etx), iota (ia), and enterotoxin toxin (cpe) genes. The C. perfringens isolates were examined in vitro against eight antibiotics (streptomycin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, lincomycin, cefotaxime, rifampicin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) Results: An overall of 32 C. perfringens strains (16%) were isolated from 200 processed chicken meat samples tested. The prevalence of C. perfringens was significantly dependent on the type of toxin genes detected (P = 0.0), being the highest in sausages (32%), followed by luncheon meats (24%), burgers (6%), and nuggets (2%). C. perfringens type A was the most frequently present toxinotype (24/32; 75%), followed by type D (21.9 %) and type E (3.1%). Of the 32 C. perfringens strains tested, only 9 (28%) were enterotoxin gene carriers, with most representing type A (n = 6). C. perfringens strains differed in their resistance/susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics. Most of the strains tested were sensitive to ampicillin (97%) and amoxicillin (94%), with 100% of the strains being resistant to streptomycin and lincomycin. It is noteworthy that the nine isolates with enterotoxigenic potential had a higher resistance than the non-enterotoxigenic ones. Conclusion: The considerably high C. perfringens isolation rates from processed chicken meat samples and resistance to some of the commonly used antibiotics indicate a potential public health risk. Recent information about the isolation of enterotoxigenic C. perfringens type E from chicken sausage has been reported.


1971 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 987-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. W. Hauschild ◽  
L. Niilo ◽  
W. J. Dorward

Vegetative cells of three strains of Clostridium perfringens type A, free of erythemal activity, were suspended in fresh medium and injected into ligated intestinal loops of lambs. Examination of the loop contents after 6.5 h showed significant accumulation of fluid, multiplication and sporulation of C. perfringens, and erythemal activity in both the supernatant fluids and the sediments.The erythemal factor produced in vivo was identical with the erythemal factor of sporulated cells of C. perfringens grown in vitro, and again caused accumulation of fluid when transferred into ligated intestinal loops of recipient lambs. Immune rabbit serum prepared against extracts from sporulated cells of C. perfringens, and absorbed with extracts from vegetative cells of the same strain, completely neutralized the enterotoxic and erythemal activities of the in vivo-produced factor.It is concluded that the erythemal factor is the causative agent in C. perfringens type A enteritis. The term "Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin" is proposed to characterize the erythemal factor.


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