Clostridium perfringens type C strains that produce various toxins cause hemorrhagic noxious ulceration or mucousal necrosis of the small intestine in humans, pigs, cattle and chickens (Sakurai et al. 1997, Sakurai and Nagahama 2006). In humans, the bacteria cause necrotic enteritis, which is termed “pig-bel” (Sakurai and Nagahama 2006). C. perfringens has been classified into five types, A to ...

HIGHLIGHTS The blends of essential oils were effective against vegetative cells C. perfringens. antioxidants in the meat product. Essential have a preservative action mortadella.

Oligonucleotide probes designed on the basis of the N-terminal sequence of Clostridium perfringens beta-toxin were used to isolate the encoding gene (cpb). The nucleotide sequence of cpb was determined, and on the basis of DNA hybridization experiments it was shown that the gene is found only in type B and C strains of C. perfringens. The deduced amino acid sequence of the beta-toxin revealed h...

The L-forms of Clostridium perfringens were first reported by Dienes (1950). He described this form as minute, soft, pleomorphic colonies which developed when C. perfringens were grown on penicillin-treated horse serum agar plates. The reversion of L-colonies to bacterial forms has not been reported for C. perfringens. They have been observed in strains of Proteus (Dienes, 1949), Salmonellae (W...

A reporter system was constructed to enable the study of gene expression in Clostridium perfingens. The system was based on plasmid shuttle vector pJIR410, which contained the C. perfringens erythromycin resistance gene. The vector was modified by the introduction of a DNA fragment comprising the open reading frame of the C. perfringens chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and flanking transc...

The combined effect of Citricidal wih irradiation on Clostridium perfringens growth from spores in a sous-vide processed marinated pork meat Mexican entrée was investigated. Citricidal was added at 200 or 800 ppm after mixing pork meat with tomatillo sauce and inoculated with 3 log(10) CFU/g of C. perfringens spores. Samples were irradiated at either 0 or 2 kGy, heated to an internal temperatur...

Four synthetic oligonucleotides encoding different parts of the Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin gene were used to test the enterotoxigenicity of C. perfringens strains isolated from confirmed outbreaks of food poisoning. Of the 245 strains isolated from food and feces originating from 186 separate outbreaks, 145 (59%) gave hybridization reactions with each of the four DNA probes used, while...

Inhibition of Clostridium perfringens spore germination and outgrowth by carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and oregano oil was evaluated during abusive chilling of cooked ground beef (75% lean) obtained from a local grocery store. Test substances were mixed into thawed ground beef at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0% (wt/wt) along with a heat-activated three-strain C. perfringens spore ...

Inhibition of Clostridium perfringens by plant-derived carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and oregano oil was evaluated during abusive chilling of cooked ground turkey. Test substances were mixed into thawed turkey product at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0% (wt/wt) along with a heat-activated three-strain C. perfringens spore cocktail to obtain final spore concentrations of ca. 2.2 to ...

Previous work has suggested that a group of alpha/beta-type small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASP) is involved in the resistance of Clostridium perfringens spores to moist heat. However, this suggestion is based on the analysis of C. perfringens spores lacking only one of the three genes encoding alpha/beta-type SASP in this organism. We have now used antisense RNA to decrease levels of alph...