Bicarbonate and amino acids are co-germinants for spores of Clostridium perfringens type A isolates carrying plasmid-borne enterotoxin gene.

Bicarbonate and amino acids are co-germinants for spores of Clostridium perfringens type A isolates carrying plasmid-borne enterotoxin gene. Food Microbiol. 2018 Feb;69:64-71 Authors: Alnoman M, Udompijitkul P, Banawas S, Sarker MR Abstract Clostridium perfringens type A isolates carrying a chromosomal enterotoxin (cpe) gene (C-cpe) are generally linked to food poisoning, while isolates carrying cpe on a plasmid (P-cpe) are associated with non-food-borne gastrointestinal diseases. Both C-cpe and P-cpe isolates can form metabolically dormant spores, which through germination process return to actively growing cells to cause diseases. In our previous study, we showed that only 3 out of 20 amino acids (aa) in phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) triggered germination of spores of P-cpe isolates (P-cpe spores). We now found that 14 out of 20 individual aa tested induced germination of P-cpe spores in the presence of bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.0). However, no significant spore germination was observed with bicarbonate (pH 7.0) alone, indicating that aa and bicarbonate are co-germinants for P-cpe spores. P-cpe strain F4969 gerKC spores did not germinate, and gerAA spores germinated extremely poorly as compared to wild-type and gerKA spores with aa-bicarbonate (pH 7.0) co-germinants. The germination defects in gerKC and gerAA spores were partially restored by complementing gerKC or gerAA spores with wild-type gerKC or gerAA, respectively. Collectively, ...
Source: Food Microbiology - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Food Microbiol Source Type: research