iClostridium perfringens
Photomicrograph of gram-positive Clostridium perfringens bacilli.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Bacteria Division: Firmicutes Class: Clostridia Order: Clostridiales Family: Clostridiaceae Genus: Clostridium Species: C. perfringens
Binomial name
Clostridium perfringens Veillon & Zuber 1898 Hauduroy et al. 1937

Clostridium perfringens (formerly known as Clostridium welchii) is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium of the genus Clostridium^[1]. C. perfringens is ubiquitous in nature and can be found as a normal component of decaying vegetation, marine sediment, the intestinal tract of humans and other vertebrates, insects, and soil. Virtually every soil sample ever examined, with the exception of the sands of the Sahara desert, has contained C. perfringens. Image File history File links Clostridium_perfringens. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Classes Bacilli Clostridia Mollicutes The Firmicutes are a division of bacteria, most of which have Gram-positive stains. ... Orders The Clostridia are a class of Firmicutes, including Clostridium and other similar genera. ... Orders The Clostridia are a class of Firmicutes, including Clostridium and other similar genera. ... Genera Acetanaerobacterium Acetivibrio Acidaminobacter Alkaliphilus Anaerobacter Anaerotruncus Anoxynatronum Bryantella Caldanaerocella Caloramator Caloranaerobacter Caminicella Candidatus Arthromitus Clostridium Coprobacillus Dorea Ethanologenbacterium Faecalibacterium Garciella Guggenheimella Hespellia Linmingia Natronincola Oxobacter Parasporobacterium Sarcina Soehngenia Sporobacter Subdoligranulum Tepidibacter Tepidimicrobium Thermobrachium Thermohalobacter Tindallia The Clostridiaceae are a family of the Clostridia, and contains the Clostridium genus. ... Species Clostridium acetobutylicum Clostridium aerotolerans Clostridium botulinum Clostridium colicanis Clostridium difficile Clostridium formicaceticum Clostridium novyi Clostridium perfringens Clostridium sordelli Clostridium tetani Clostridium piliforme Clostridium tyrobutyricum etc. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by gram staining, in contrast to gram-negative bacteria, which are not affected by the stain. ... An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. ... An endospore is a dormant, tough, non-reproductive structure produced by a small number of bacteria from the Firmicute family. ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Species Clostridium acetobutylicum Clostridium aerotolerans Clostridium botulinum Clostridium colicanis Clostridium difficile Clostridium formicaceticum Clostridium novyi Clostridium perfringens Clostridium sordelli Clostridium tetani Clostridium piliforme Clostridium tyrobutyricum etc. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes). ... Classes and Clades See below Vertebrata is a subphylum of chordates, specifically, those with backbones or spinal columns. ... Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrates that are taxonomically referred to as the class Insecta. ... Loess field in Germany Soil horizons are formed by combined biological, chemical and physical alterations. ... Satellite image The Sahara is the worlds largest hot desert, and second largest desert at over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), almost as large as the United States. ...

Infection characteristics

C. perfringens is commonly encountered in infections as a benign component of the normal flora^[2]. In this case, its role in disease is minor. Infections due to C. perfringens show evidence of tissue necrosis, bacteremia, emphysematous cholecystitis, and gas gangrene, which is also known as clostridial myonecrosis. The toxin involved in gas gangrene is known as α-toxin, which inserts into the plasma membrane of cells, producing gaps in the membrane which disrupt normal cellular function^[3]. In microbiology, flora (plural: floras or floræ) refers to the collective bacteria and other microorganisms in an ecosystem (usually an animal host or a single part of its body). ... Necrosis (in Greek Νεκρός = Dead) is the name given to unprogrammed death of cells and living tissue. ... Bacteremia (Bacteræmia in British English, also known as blood poisoning or toxemia) is the presence of bacteria in the blood. ... Emphysema is a chronic obstructive lung disease. ... Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder. ... Gas gangrene is a bacterial infection that produces gas within tissues in gangrene. ... Myonecrosis is a condition of necrotic damage, specifically to muscle tissue. ...

The action of C. perfringens on dead bodies is known to mortuary workers as tissue gas and can only be halted by embalming. A mortuary is a cold chamber used to keep the deceased from seriously decomposing; this practice exists for the sake of recognition of the deceased and to allow time to prepare for burial. ... Tissue gas is the name given to the action of the bacteria Clostridium perfringens (also know as ) in dead bodies. ... Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and make it suitable for display at a funeral. ...

Food poisoning

Some strains of C. perfringens produce toxins which cause food poisoning if ingested. In the United Kingdom and United States they are the third most common cause of food-borne illness, with poorly prepared meat and poultry the main culprits in harbouring the bacterium^[3]. The clostridial enterotoxin mediating the disease is often heat-resistant and can be detected in contaminated food and feces^[4]. Foodborne illness or food poisoning is caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...

Incubation time is between 8 and 16 hours after ingestion of contaminated food. Manifestions typically include abdominal cramping and diarrhea - vomiting and fever are unusual. The whole course usually resolves within 24 hours, and is rarely fatal. Severe cases resulting in death have usually shown enterocolitis at autopsy. Enterocolitis (or coloenteritis) is an inflammation of both the small and large intestine. ...

It is likely that many cases of C. perfringens food poisoning remain subclinical, as antibodies to the toxin are common amongst the population. This has led to the conclusion that most, if not all, of the population has experienced food poisoning due to C. perfringens^[3]. Schematic of antibody binding to an antigen An antibody or immunoglobulin is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. ...

Colony characteristics

C. perfringens colonies on an egg yolk agar plate showing a white precipitate

On blood agar plates, C. perfringens grown anaerobically produces β-haemolytic, flat, spreading, rough, translucent colonies with irregular margins. A Nagler agar plate, containing 5-10% egg yolk, is used to presumptively identifiy strains which produce α-toxin, a diffusable lecithinase which interacts with the lipids in egg yolk to produce a characteristic precipitate around the colonies. One half of the plate is innoculated with antitoxin to act as a control in the identification. Image File history File links Clostridium_perfringens_01. ... Image File history File links Clostridium_perfringens_01. ... An agar plate streaked with microorganisms isolated from a deep-water sponge. ... An agar plate is a sterile Petri dish that contains agar plus nutrients, and is used to culture bacteria or fungi. ... Examples of alpha (top), beta (middle), and gamma (bottom) hemolysis on sheep blood agar plates Hemolysis is used in the empirical identification of microorganisms based on the ability of bacterial colonies grown on agar plates to break down red blood cells in the culture. ... A phospholipase is an enzyme that converts phospholipids into fatty acids and other lipophilic substances. ... An antitoxin is an antibody with the ability to neutralize a specific toxin. ...

References