Nutritional Factors Concerned with Growth and Lecithinase Production by Clostridium Perfringens

Nutritional factors concerned with growth and lecithinase production by Clostridium perfringens strain PB6K have been described. The addition of enzymatically hydrolyzed casein to a synthetic medium in place of the constituent amino acids supported toxin synthesis, while acid hydrolyzed casein was only partially active under these conditions. Synthetic peptides, notably glycyl-L-asparagine, stimulated both growth and lecithinase synthesis when incorporated into the synthetic medium. The amino acid concentration for optimal growth was found to be higher than that needed for optimum lecithinase production and increases in amino acid concentration appeared to mask the stimulatory effect of the peptides on lecithinase production. Alanyl-DL-asparagine and glycyl-D-asparagine were unable to substitute for glycyl-L-asparagine and the · D form of glycyl-asparagine in the presence of its L counterpart caused an inhibition of lecithinase production. Under the conditions of this study it was possible to obtain toxin titers in a semi-synthetic medium approaching 50% of that produced in a complex medium. However, at times, there appeared to be as much toxin in the semi-synthetic medium as in the complex medium when total growth in the respective mediums was considered.