This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heikinheimo, A.
Right arrow Articles by Korkeala, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Heikinheimo, A.
Right arrow Articles by Korkeala, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2004, p. 3992-3997, Vol. 42, No. 9
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.9.3992-3997.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enumeration and Isolation of cpe-Positive Clostridium perfringens Spores from Feces

Annamari Heikinheimo,* Miia Lindström, and Hannu Korkeala

Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Received 24 January 2004/ Returned for modification 15 March 2004/ Accepted 14 May 2004

A hydrophobic grid membrane filter-colony hybridization (HGMF-CH) method for the enumeration and isolation of cpe gene-carrying (cpe-positive) Clostridium perfringens spores from feces was developed. A 425-bp DNA probe specific for the cpe gene was sensitive and specific when tested with bacterial DNA and pure cultures. The enumeration of cpe-positive C. perfringens by the HGMF-CH method proved to be as sensitive as nested PCR combined with the most-probable number technique when tested with fecal samples from healthy individuals. With the aid of the HGMF-CH method, positive hybridization signals were detected from two out of seven fecal samples obtained from healthy individuals. Furthermore, cpe-positive C. perfringens was successfully isolated from both of these samples. The detection of cpe-positive C. perfringens by the HGMF-CH method is dependent on the ratio of cpe-positive C. perfringens colonies to total C. perfringens colonies growing on the HGMF-tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine plate. cpe-positive C. perfringens could be isolated if the ratio of cpe-positive C. perfringens spores to total C. perfringens spores was 6 x 10–5 or higher. The HGMF-CH method provides an aid in the investigation of fecal samples of patients suffering from food poisoning or other diseases caused by cpe-positive C. perfringens. The method also offers a new approach in the investigation of the epidemiology of cpe-positive C. perfringens strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, FIN-00014 Helsinki University, Finland. Phone: 358-9-191 57106. Fax: 358-9-191 57101. E-mail: annamari.heikinheimo{at}helsinki.fi.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2004, p. 3992-3997, Vol. 42, No. 9
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.9.3992-3997.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»