Molecular typing of Clostridium perfringens isolated from turkey meat by multiplex PCR

To determine the presence of toxin genes in 22 Clostridium perfringens isolated from turkey meat samples by molecular typing. For this purpose, alpha (cpa), beta (cpb), beta 2 (cpb2), epsilon (etx), iota (iA) and enterotoxin (cpe) toxin genes were analysed by multiplex PCR. All 22 turkey meat Cl. perfringens isolates were found to carry the cpa, gene but in none of the isolates cpb, etx, iap or cpe genes were detected. Results showed that all isolates represented type A and were cpe negative. Our results indicate that Cl. perfringens type A is the most common type in turkey meat. Also multiplex PCR is effective and rapid method for typing of Cl. perfringens. It is the first study about molecular typing of Cl. perfringens using multiplex PCR in turkey meat samples in Turkey.