Poster Presentation MedVetPATHOGENS 2018

The Clostridium perfringens toxin-based typing scheme has been expanded (#116)

Julian I Rood 1 , Vicki Adams 1 , Jake Lacey 1 2 , Dena Lyras 1 , Bruce A McClane 3 , Stephen B Melville 4 , Robert J Moore 1 5 , Michel R Popoff 6 , Mahfuzur R Sarker 7 , J Glenn Songer , Francisco A Uzal 8 , Filip Van Immerseel 9
  1. Infection Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Vic, Australia
  2. Australian Animal Health Laboratory, CSIRO Biosecurity Flagship, Geelong, Vic, Australia
  3. Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
  5. School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Vic, Australia
  6. Unite Des Bacteries Anaerobies et Toxines, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
  7. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
  8. California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, University of California-Davis, San Bernadino, CA, USA
  9. Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium

Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic gram-positive rod that causes many different histotoxic and enterotoxic diseases in humans and food production animals. Disease pathogenesis involves the production of potent protein toxins, many of which are secreted from the cell. C. perfringens isolates are currently classified into toxinotypes A to E based on their ability to produce a combination of four typing toxins: alpha-toxin, beta-toxin, epsilon-toxin and iota-toxin. However, this scheme is outdated since it does not take into account the discovery of other toxins that are required for specific C. perfringens-mediated diseases. We have now expanded this toxinotyping scheme1 based on the principles that a new toxinotype must be unique and must involve a new typing toxin that is not part of the existing scheme. The established toxinotypes B to E have priority. Most importantly, new toxinotypes must be disease based and clearly demonstrated to be associated with a specific disease syndrome. We have also established a mechanism by which new toxinotypes can be proposed and approved. Based on these criteria two new toxinotypes have been established. C. perfringens type F consists of isolates that produce C. perfringens enterotoxin (CPE), but not beta-toxin, epsilon-toxin or iota-toxin. Type F strains includes isolates responsible for C. perfringens­-mediated human food poisoning and antibiotic associated diarrhea. C. perfringens type G comprises isolates that produce NetB toxin and thereby cause necrotic enteritis in chickens. It is considered that this expanded scheme will be readily accepted and widely used by both diagnostic and research focussed laboratories.

  1. Rood et al., Expansion of the Clostridium perfringens toxin-based typing scheme Anaerobe (2018) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anaerobe.2018.04.011