Toxigenic type of Clostridium perfringens isolated from chicken in Korea

닭에서 분리한 Clostridium perfringens의 독소형

Clostridium perfringens has been identified as a causative organism in necrotic enteritis in chicken. The bacterium has been classified into five toxigenic types (A through E) based on the pattern of the production of major lethal toxins. Seroneutralization with mice or guinea pigs usually has been used to type the organism. Of the types, types A and C of the bacterium had been recognized as the major pathogenic types in chicken. In this experiment, we isolated nine field strains of C perfringens from chicken showing necrotic enteritis in clinical symptoms and pathologic findings and identified by biochemical tests. In order to type the organism, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used with primers on major lethal toxin genes instead of seroneutralization. Amplification of only a toxin gene with the PCR suggested that the disease in chicken was due to type A of C perfringens in Korea. Furthermore, the PCR method can be replaced with seroneutralization to type C perfringens in future.