Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1974 Oct;28(4):655–660. doi: 10.1128/am.28.4.655-660.1974

Clostridium perfringens in the Environment1

Jack R Matches 1, John Liston 1, Donald Curran 1,2
PMCID: PMC186792  PMID: 4371684

Abstract

Clostridium perfringens was isolated from samples collected in Puget Sound in the state of Washington and areas considered as possible sources of these organisms to Puget Sound. The distribution of C. perfringens in the total Clostridium population was determined for fish gut contents and sediments collected in highly polluted and less polluted areas, sewage samples, freshwater sediments, and soils. The greatest numbers of C. perfringens were obtained from marine sediments collected near the sewage outfall at West Point. Fewer isolates were made from fish collected from less polluted stations, although the number of C. perfringens remained high in sediments from other Puget Sound stations. The proportion of C. perfringens in the total Clostridium populations varied between 56 and 71% for sewage samples and only 0.4 to 4.1% for freshwater sediments and soil samples. Only 25 C. perfringens isolates out of 137 from fish guts, or 18%, were identifiable serologically and these fell into 12 groups. C. perfringens were fed to fish and the fish were sacrificed after varying lengths of time. The number of C. perfringens increased slightly in the gut during the first 24 h and then the numbers decreased rapidly for the next 120 h.

Full text

PDF
655

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. GUELIN A. Bactériophage et entérobactéries chez les poissons de mer et le problème des eaux polluées. Ann Inst Pasteur (Paris) 1952 Jul;83(1):46–56. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. HOBBS B. C., SMITH M. E., OAKLEY C. L., WARRACK G. H., CRUICKSHANK J. C. Clostridium welchii food poisoning. J Hyg (Lond) 1953 Mar;51(1):75–101. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400015515. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Matches J. R., Liston J. Mesophilic clostridia in Puget Sound. Can J Microbiol. 1974 Jan;20(1):1–7. doi: 10.1139/m74-001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. McClung L. S. Human Food Poisoning Due to Growth of Clostridium perfringens (C. welchii) in Freshly Cooked Chicken: Preliminary Note. J Bacteriol. 1945 Aug;50(2):229–231. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. McClung L. S., Toabe R. The Egg Yolk Plate Reaction for the Presumptive Diagnosis of Clostridium sporogenes and Certain Species of the Gangrene and Botulinum Groups. J Bacteriol. 1947 Feb;53(2):139–147. doi: 10.1128/jb.53.2.139-147.1947. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Shinjo T., Ogata M. [Studies on the genus Clostridium. II. Clostridial flora in soil]. Nihon Juigaku Zasshi. 1965 Dec;27(6):305–308. doi: 10.1292/jvms1939.27.305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Smith L. D., Gardner M. V. THE OCCURRENCE OF VEGETATIVE CELLS OF CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS IN SOIL. J Bacteriol. 1949 Sep;58(3):407–408. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. YAMAGISHI T., ISHIDA S., NISHIDA S. ISOLATION OF TOXIGENIC STRAINS OF CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS FROM SOIL. J Bacteriol. 1964 Sep;88:646–652. doi: 10.1128/jb.88.3.646-652.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES