An official website of the United States government.
Since C.perfringens only produces CPE when it sporulates and the spores are the major source of food contamination, if spore development can be blocked,the number of outbreaks of the disease and the severity CPE or of the symptoms will be reduced. To determine how C. perfringens makes a spore and CPE, we will make mutations in genes for sporulation or regulatory proteins and test the effect(s) of these mutations on spore development and CPE regulation. We will also determine the biological role of the CPE protein in spore development by making a mutation in the CPE gene and testing the heat and chemical resistance properties of the spores that are produced.
One of the most common causes of food poisoning in humans is the sporulating anaerobic bacterium Clostridium perfringens. It causes large scale outbreaks of food poisoning, often in commercial food services such as restaurants, hospitals and institutions. C. perfringens spores can survive normal cooking temperature and germinate as the food cools. If the food is not refrigerated, the bacteria can multiply rapidly. After being eaten, the bacteria pass into the intestine, begin to sporulate and produce a potent enterotoxin protein (CPE). When the spores mature, the bacteria break open, releasing spores and CPE into the intestinal tract. CPE causes the cells lining the intestine to become leaky, producing the symptoms of the disease: diarrhea, intestinal pain, nausea, and vomiting.
The information gained will be used to develop strategies to inhibit spore development and enterotoxin synthesis during food preparation.