Sporulation and Enterotoxin Production by Mutants of Clostridium perfringens

AUTOR(ES)

Duncan, Charles L.

RESUMO

The ability of Clostridium perfringens type A to produce an enterotoxin active in human food poisoning has been shown to be directly related to the ability of the organism to sporulate. Enterotoxin was produced only in a sporulation medium and not in a growth medium in which sporulation was repressed. Mutants with an altered ability to sporulate were isolated from an sp+ ent+ strain either as spontaneous mutants or after mutagenesis with acridine orange or nitrosoguanidine. All sp0− mutants were ent−. Except for one isolate, these mutants were not disturbed in other toxic functions characteristic of the wild type and unrelated to sporulation. A total of four of seven osp0 mutants retained the ability to produce detectable levels of enterotoxin. None of the ent− mutants produced gene products serologically homologous to enterotoxin. A total of three sp− mutants, blocked at intermediate stages of sporulation, produced enterotoxin. Of these mutants, one was blocked at stage III, one probably at late stage IV, and one probably at stage V. A total of three sp+ revertants isolated from an sp− ent− mutant regained not only the ability to sporulate but also the ability to produce enterotoxin. The enterotoxin appears to be a sporulation-specific gene product; however, the function of the enterotoxin in sporulation is unknown.

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