Pure spore antigens for the immunization of rabbits were prepared by enzymic digestion of vegetative components and separation of the cleaned spores in polyethylene glycol. Spore antisera were prepared to strains representative of toxigenic Clostridium botulinum type E; nontoxigenic boticin E-producing variants; nontoxigenic nonproducers of boticin E; nontoxigenic "atypical" strains, which diff...

Clostridium botulinum comprises a diverse group of botulinum toxin-producing anaerobic rod-shaped spore-forming bacteria that are ubiquitously distributed in soils and aquatic sediments. Decomposition of plants, algae, and animals creates anaerobic environments that facilitate growth of C. botulinum, which may then enter into food webs leading to intoxication of animals. Via saprophytic utiliza...

Botulism is diagnosed by detecting botulinum neurotoxin and Clostridium botulinum cells in the patient and in suspected food samples. In this study, a multiplex PCR assay for the detection of Clostridium botulinum types A, B, E, and F in food and fecal material was developed. The method employs four new primer pairs with equal melting temperatures, each being specific to botulinum neurotoxin ge...

A retrospective study of Clostridium botulinum strains isolated from patients from California with infant botulism identified the fourth known C. botulinum strain that produces both type B and type F botulinum toxins. This unique strain represented 0.12% of the California infant botulism case isolates from 1976 to 2003. The relative concentrations of type B and F toxins produced were temperatur...

Clostridium botulinum type E has been associated with botulism in adults but never in infants. Infant botulism type E cases have been associated with neurotoxigenic strains of C. butyricum. We report the first infant botulism case due to C. botulinum type E worldwide.

Animal botulism is mainly associated with Clostridium botulinum group III-producing neurotoxin types C, C/D, D, and D/C. In this report, we present the draft genome sequences of the first five strains of Clostridium botulinum type D/C isolated in Brazil and used for vaccination purposes.

Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is the most poisonous substances known and its eight toxin types (A to H) are distinguished by the inability of polyclonal antibodies that neutralize one toxin type to neutralize any of the other seven toxin types. Infant botulism, an intestinal toxemia orphan disease, is the most common form of human botulism in the United States. It results from swallowed spores of...

Botulism is a serious paralytic disease caused by Clostridium botulinum toxin in foods. There are seven recognized serotypes of botulinum neurotoxins among which the principal prevalent types in humans include A, B and E. Infant botulism results from intestinal colonization and toxin production by C. botulinum spores in babies less than 1 year old. Honey is the most important food discriminated...

All reported cases of infant botulism except one have been caused by proteolytic strains (group I) of Clostridium botulinum, toxin types A or B. We describe the cultural and biochemical characteristics of the causative organism of this singular case of infant botulism, caused by type F botulinal toxin. Although this organism produces type F botulinal toxin, it is quite different from proteolyti...

A degenerate primer pair was selected to amplify specifically a 260-bp DNA fragment from Clostridium botulinum types A, B, E, F, and G, and five individual probes allowed identification of each toxinotype by hybridization of the PCR products. The 72 strains of different Clostridium species tested and 11 other bacterial species commonly found in food samples gave an amplification product. This a...