The Enterotoxic Clostridia

McClane, Bruce A.; Uzal, Francisco A.; Fernández‐Miyakawa, Mariano E.; Lyerly, David M.; Wilkins, Tracy D.

doi:10.1007/0-387-30744-3_22

Cited by 134 publications

(259 citation statements)

References 245 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

255

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…he Gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium Clostridium perfringens is distributed ubiquitously throughout the environment, with a presence in soils, foods, sewage, feces, and the intestines of many healthy humans and animals (1)(2)(3). This bacterium also ranks among the most common and important pathogens of humans and livestock (1,3,4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxin Plasmids of Clostridium perfringens

Adams

Bannam

et al. 2013

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

Self Cite

211

268

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARY In both humans and animals, Clostridium perfringens is an important cause of histotoxic infections and diseases originating in the intestines, such as enteritis and enterotoxemia. The virulence of this Gram-positive, anaerobic bacterium is heavily dependent upon its prolific toxin-producing ability. Many of the ∼16 toxins produced by C. perfringens are encoded by large plasmids that range in size from ∼45 kb to ∼140 kb. These plasmid-encoded toxins are often closely associated with mobile elements. A C. perfringens strain can carry up to three different toxin plasmids, with a single plasmid carrying up to three distinct toxin genes. Molecular Koch's postulate analyses have established the importance of several plasmid-encoded toxins when C. perfringens disease strains cause enteritis or enterotoxemias. Many toxin plasmids are closely related, suggesting a common evolutionary origin. In particular, most toxin plasmids and some antibiotic resistance plasmids of C. perfringens share an ∼35-kb region containing a Tn 916 -related conjugation locus named tcp (transfer of clostridial plasmids). This tcp locus can mediate highly efficient conjugative transfer of these toxin or resistance plasmids. For example, conjugative transfer of a toxin plasmid from an infecting strain to C. perfringens normal intestinal flora strains may help to amplify and prolong an infection. Therefore, the presence of toxin genes on conjugative plasmids, particularly in association with insertion sequences that may mobilize these toxin genes, likely provides C. perfringens with considerable virulence plasticity and adaptability when it causes diseases originating in the gastrointestinal tract.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxin Plasmids of Clostridium perfringens

Adams

Bannam

et al. 2013

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

Self Cite

211

268

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…"content-markup(./author-grp [1]/aff|./author-grp [1]/dept-list)> Clostridium perfringens is a Gram positive, spore-forming, anaerobic rod that is classified into 5 types (A, B, C, D, and E) according to the production of 4 major toxins (a, b, e, i). 4 This microorganism is widely distributed in the environment and is responsible for several diseases of animals and humans. 1,8 Although several reports describe the isolation and toxinotyping of C. perfringens from the intestine of healthy animals, 1,5,10 information about the lethal potential of C. perfringens strains isolated from the intestine of nondiseased animals is scant.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clostridium Perfringenstype A Toxin Production in 3 Commonly Used Culture Media

2007

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. In vitro toxin production is an important tool not only for diagnostic purposes but also for the study of pathogenesis of Clostridium perfringens infections. The present study was carried out to compare the level of toxin production by several strains of C. perfringens type A, isolated from the intestine of animals, when cultured in 3 different conventional culture media. Six strains of C. perfringens type A isolated from the small intestine of healthy sheep were cultured in commercial cooked meat medium (CMM), brain heart infusion (BHI), and tryptone glucose yeast (TGY). Intravenous lethality in mice and phospholipase C (PLC) activity were measured in filtered culture supernatants. Lethality of culture supernatants was highest for all isolates when grown in BHI, followed by CMM. No supernatants from any isolates grown in TGY produced lethality in mice. Phospholipase C activity was highest when the isolates were grown in BHI and CMM and significantly lower when grown in TGY.

show abstract

“…This toxin upregulation could help to explain the rapid death associated with many type C infections. 1 Finally, the Vidal et al study 11 also showed that the rapid host cell-induced upregulation of toxin production involves some, but not all, systems previously increases type C isolate cytotoxicity, extensive Caco-2 cell morphologic damage was only observed in wells receiving supernatants from type C cultures grown in the presence of Caco-2 cells.…”

Section: Host Cell Contact Induces a Rapid Upregulation Of Toxin Prodmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…1 These sheep infections involve sudden death or acute neurologic signs, which may be accompanied by bloody diarrhea. Therefore, type C infections of sheep are often enterotoxemias, where the associated neurologic signs result from toxins that are produced in the intestines but then absorbed into the circulation to affect internal organs such as the brain.…”

Section: Host Cell Contact Induces a Rapid Upregulation Of Toxin Prodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each C. perfringens type is associated with particular diseases, 1 suggesting that certain toxins, or combinations of toxins, are important contributors to those diseases. However, since each C. perfringens isolate produces multiple toxins, it can only be conclusively determined whether a specific toxin(s) is important for virulence by fulfilling Molecular Koch's postulates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation