Relationship of Bacteriophages to the Toxigenicity of Clostridium botulinum and Closely Related Organisms
Abstract
The most important characteristic in the identification and differentiation of the pathogenic clostridia is the production of toxins. Based upon the production of antigenically specific neurotoxins, the species Clostridium botulinum is divided into types A through G. Even though the different toxin types represent a heterogenous group of strains, they have been placed into one species because of the similar pharmacological action of the toxins. When biochemical, physiological, and serological characteristics and deoxyribonucleic acid homologies are used to characterize the different C. botulinum strains, this species can be separated into four groups. Group 1 cultures are proteolytic and produce toxin types A, A sub F, B, and F; group 2 cultures are nonproteolytic and produce toxin types B, E, and F; group 3 cultures are nonproteolytic and produce toxin types C sub 1, C sub 2, and D; and group 4 cultures are weakly proteolytic and produce toxin type G. The loss of the toxigenic characteristic has been observed in pure cultures of C. botulinum during culture in laboratory media. In addition, nontoxigenic clostridia resembling C. botulinum have been isolated frequently from aquatic and terrestrial environments. The occurrence of nontoxigenic cultures coupled with the observations that all types of C. botulinum carry bacteriophages (2, 3, 14, 24) suggested that the production of toxins by C. botulinum might be mediated by bacteriophages or plasmids analogous to the production of toxin by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. This report provides evidence for the involvement of specific bacteriophages in the toxigenicity of C. botulinum types C and D and closely related organisms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA118081
Entities
People
- F. T. Poysky
- M. W. Eklund
Organizations
- National Marine Fisheries Service