Abstract:
a-toxin is produced by all types of Clostridium perfringens. The genes encoding a-toxin from the available five types of Clostridium perfringens [A (chicken strain), A (rabbit strain), B, C and D] were PCR amplified using specific primers and the PCR products were examined on 1.5% (w/v) agarose gel and demonstrated the same bands comparable to the published a-toxin gene. Restriction enzyme analysis using two sets of enzymes (one set known to have recognition sites; Hinf1, EcoRV and Mse1 and the other set known to lack recognition sites Hind III, Pst1 and BamH1) were carried out. The first set of enzymes revealed the same cut specific for a-toxin gene. However, the second set of enzymes revealed no cut which is consistent to the published data. The PCR products of a-toxin gene from the five types were separately sequenced and aligned with all published a-toxin genes of Clostridium perfringens. Identities among all studied a-toxin gene sequences and with the published ones were nearly 96-98%. There are no any significant differences among these nucleotide sequences. It is concluded that a-toxin gene sequences among different types of Clostridium perfringens are similar and highly conserved.