Immunity to Aerosol Challenge in Guinea Pigs Immunized with Gamma-Irradiated Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Vaccines

An improved selective medium, Tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine (TSC) agar, for the enumeration of Clostridium perfringens is described. It consists of the same basal medium as Shahidi-Ferguson-perfringens (SFP) agar, but with 400 mug of D-cycloserine per ml substituted for the kanamycin and polymyxin. Tolerance of C. perfringens for D-cycloserine, its production of lecithinase, and its ability to reduce sulfite were used as the basis for development of this medium. Comparisons were made between TSC and SFP agars for the recovery of vegetative cells of C. perfringens by using statistical methods. The results showed that TSC allowed virtually complete recovery of most of the C. perfringens strains while inhibiting practically all facultative anaerobes tested. SFP agar allowed a slightly higher rate of recovery of C. perfringens but was found to be much less selective.     

Evaluation and Modifications of Media for Enumeration of Clostridium perfringens

The suitability of the Shahidi-Ferguson perfringens, TSC (tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine), and oleandomycin-polymyxin-sulfadiazine perfringens agars for presumptive enumeration of Clostridium perfringens was tested. Of these, the TSC agar was the most satisfactory. The TSC agar method was improved by eliminating the egg yolk and using pour plates. The modified method allowed quantitative recoveries of each of 71 C. perfringens strains tested and is recommended. For confirmation of C. perfringens, the nitrite test in nitrate motility agar was unreliable, particularly after storage of the medium for a few days. In contrast, positive nitrite reactions were obtained consistently when nitrate motility agar was supplemented with glycerol and galactose.     

Recovery of Heated Clostridium perfringens Type A Spores on Selective Media

The enumeration of Clostridium perfringens spores on sulfite-polymyxin-sulfadiazine agar (SPS), tryptone-sulfite-neomycin agar (TSN), Shahidi-Ferguson-perfringens agar (SFP), tryptone-sulfite-cycloserine agar (TSC), and TSN lacking antibiotics (BASE) was studied. The spores were heated at 105 to 120 C by the capillary-tube method. The media were about equally efficient for the enumeration of heat-activated spores. Efficiency of the media for the recovery of spores surviving heat treatments at ultrahigh temperatures varied as follows: TSC >/= SFP > BASE > SPS > TSN. Greater recovery when survivors were enumerated on TSC or SFP was attributed to germination of injured spores by the lysozyme present in the egg yolk emulsion used in these media. Low recovery of survivors on TSN and SPS was due to both the absence of lysozyme and inhibition of injured spores by the selective agents of these media. Recovery of heated spores was reduced greatly by polymyxin, neomycin, and kanamycin, and slightly by sulfadiazine and D-cycloserine. The addition of lysozyme to SPS or TSN did not improve the percentage of heat-injured spores recovered because the selective agents of these media interfered with the action of lysozyme. The suitability of the selective media for the enumeration of survivors was greatly affected by the presence of certain foods.     

Rapid Technique for the Enumeration of Clostridium perfringens

A new medium, Tryptone-sulfite-neomycin (TSN) agar, and an incubation procedure for the enumeration of Clostridium perfringens are described. Tolerance to neomycin, optimal growth at 46 C, and sulfite-reducing properties of C. perfringens were used as a basis for development of the medium. Comparisons were made between sulfite-polymyxin-sulfadiazine (SPS) agar and TSN agar at 37 and 46 C with C. perfringens and other organisms. These studies indicate the quantitative and selective superiority of TSN agar, incubated at 46 C, over SPS agar.     

Comparison of media for enumeration of Clostridium perfringens from foods

Many media have been developed to enumerate Clostridium perfringens from foods. In this study, six media [iron sulfite (IS) agar, tryptose sulfite cycloserine (TSC) agar, Shahidi Ferguson perfringens (SFP) agar, sulfite cycloserine azide (SCA), differential clostridial agar (DCA), and oleandomycin polymyxin sulfadiazine perfringens (OPSP) agar] were compared in a prestudy, of which four (IS, TSC, SCA, and DCA) were selected for an international collaborative trial. Recovery of 15 pure strains was tested in the prestudy and recovery of one strain from foodstuffs was tested in the collaborative trial. Results from the prestudy did reveal statistical difference of the media but recoveries on all media were within the microbiological limits (+/-30%) of IS, which was set as a reference medium. Recoveries on the media tested in the collaborative trial were statistically different as well, but these differences were of no microbiological-analytical relevance. Food matrices did not affect the recovery of C. perfringens in general. DCA and SCA, in particular, are labor-intensive to prepare and DCA frequently failed to produce black colonies; gray colonies were quite common. Since IS medium is nonselective, it was concluded that TSC was the most favorable medium for the enumeration of C. perfringens from foods.     

New Quantitative, Qualitative, and Confirmatory Media for Rapid Analysis of Food for Clostridium perfringens

A selective and differential medium, Shahidi-Ferguson Perfringens agar (SFP agar), and a confirmatory medium, lactose-motility agar (LM agar), were developed for the enumeration and identification of Clostridium perfringens in foods. These media provide a rapid, specific, and direct diagnosis of C. perfringens. SFP agar contains sodium metabisulfite and ferric ammonium citrate to demonstrate H(2)S production and egg yolk to demonstrate lecithinase production by C. perfringens. On SFP agar, C. perfringens produces black colonies, 2 to 3 mm in diameter, surrounded by zones of opaque precipitate. The typical colonies are confirmed on LM agar. Enumeration and identification are completed within 48 hr. All of the ingredients of SFP agar are stable to heat and storage conditions. SFP agar also contains two antibiotics, kanamycin and polymyxin B, which are inhibitory to many bacteria commonly occurring in foods. A comparative study of SFP agar and noninhibitory media showed that SFP agar did not inhibit any of the 16 strains of C. perfringens tested. Recovery of C. perfringens added to foods averaged 90.6% for SFP agar as compared with 69.8% for sulfite polymyxin-sulfadiazine (SPS) agar (BBL) and 60.2% for SPS agar (Difco). The colonies on the SFP agar, were much larger and were consistently black. Of 464 food samples tested, C. perfringens was found in 27 samples with SFP agar and in 5 samples with SPS agar (Difco), with a recovery ratio considerably higher on SFP agar. SFP agar is a more specific presumptive medium for the enumeration of C. perfringens and in conjunction with LM agar should save considerable time, effort, and materials toward the final identification of the species.     

Comparison of Media for the Enumeration of Clostridium perfringens

For the enumeration of viable vegetative cells and spores of Clostridium perfringens, noncommercial (laboratory prepared) sulfite-polymyxin-sulfadiazine (SPS) agar, tryptone-sulfite-neomycin (TSN) agar, and Shahidi-Ferguson-perfringens (SFP) agar were statistically compared to SPS agar without antibiotics. The selectivities of these four media were also evaluated on the basis of their ability to inhibit the growth of pure cultures of a variety of other organisms. The average recovery of vegetative cells of 10 strains of C. perfringens with SFP agar was not significantly higher than with SPS agar with 10(4) organisms per g, but with 10(6) organisms per g it yielded significantly higher recoveries than SPS agar. TSN agar yielded significantly lower recoveries at both inoculum levels. SFP agar gave significantly higher recoveries of spores than SPS and TSN agars. Average plate counts of spores in SFP agar were 75% as high as in SPS agar without antibiotics, but only 45% of the spores grew in SPS agar and 25% in TSN agar. TSN agar was the most selective of the three media, but the selectivity of SPS agar approached that of TSN agar under the test conditions. SFP agar, which was the least selective of the media, allowed growth to some extent of nearly all of the facultative anaerobes tested.     

Enumeration of Clostridium perfringens spores in groundwater samples: comparison of six culture media

In order to investigate the ability of Fluorocult-supplemented TSC agar (TSCF (Fluorocult supplemented TSC-agar): prepared from Tryptose Sulfite Cycloserine Agar Base (Merck), D-cycloserine (Fluka Chemika, USA), and fluorocult TSC-Agar supplement (Merck)) for detecting spores of Clostridium perfringens in water, we analyzed groundwater samples, pretreated by heating to 80 degrees C/5 min, using this fluorogenic medium together with five other media: mCP agar (Panreac; Cultimed), TSC agar (Merck, Germany), TSN agar (Merck), and SPS agar (BBL, USA) by the membrane filtration technique, and Wilson-Blair agar (WB) following the still-in-force Spanish official method. Variance analysis of the data obtained shows statistically significant differences in the counts obtained between media employed in this work. The C. perfringens spore counts on mCP agar were significantly lower (P<0.05) than the corresponding values of TSC, TSCF, SPS, and WB media. No statistically significant differences were found between C. perfringens spore counts on TSCF compared with those of other methods used. On the other hand, the identification of typical and atypical colonies isolated from all media demonstrated that fluorogenic TSC agar was the most specific medium for C. perfringens spore recovery in groundwater samples. Additionally, the results obtained indicate that mCP agar, which is the reference method in the European Union, is not suitable medium for recovering C. perfringens spores from groundwater samples.     

Enumeration of Food-Borne Clostridium perfringens in Egg Yolk-Free Tryptose-Sulfite-Cycloserine Agar

The SFP (Shahidi-Ferguson perfringens), TSC (tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine), EY (egg yolk)-free TSC, and OPSP (oleandomycin-polymyxin-sulfadiazine perfringens) agars have been tested for their suitability to enumerate Clostridium perfringens in naturally contaminated foods. Complete recoveries of C. perfringens were obtained in each of the four media, but only the TSC and EY-free TSC agars were sufficiently selective to ensure subsequent confirmatory tests without interference from facultative anaerobes. Because of some disadvantages associated with the use of egg yolk, EY-free TSC agar is recommended for enumeration of C. perfringens in foods. Several conditions for convenient shipment of foods and C. perfringens isolates with minimum loss of viability have been tested. The highest viable counts were preserved when foods were mixed 1:1 (wt/vol) with 20% glycerol and kept in a container with dry ice. Isolated C. perfringens strains remained viable for at least 2 weeks at ambient temperatures on blood agar slopes with a 2% agar overlay in screw-cap culture tubes.     

Development of an Improved Selective Agar Medium for Isolation of Yersinia pestis

Existing media designed for selective isolation of clinically important members of the genus Yersinia were found to be unsatisfactory for the growth and isolation of Yersinia pestis. We report the development of a new selective agar medium (termed BIN) that supports the growth of Y. pestis. The development of the formulation of this medium was based on a fluorescence screening system designed for monitoring bacterial growth on semisolid media, using a green fluorescent protein-expressing strain. High-throughput combinatorial experiments can be conducted for the quantitative evaluation of the effect of different medium components on growth. Generation of fluorescence plots in this system, using microplates, allowed the quantitative evaluation of the growth rate of Y. pestis EV76 cultures in different agar compositions. The final BIN formulation is based on brain heart infusion agar, to which the selective agents irgasan, cholate salts, crystal violet, and nystatin were introduced. It was found that BIN agar is more efficient in supporting colony formation and recovery of Y. pestis than are the conventional semisolid media MacConkey agar and Yersinia-selective agar (cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin agar). The advantage of BIN over other media has been also demonstrated in recovering virulent Y. pestis from the mixed bacterial populations found in decaying carcasses of infected mice. The BIN medium is suggested as a selective medium for isolation and recovery of Y. pestis from various backgrounds.     

A simple method for the isolation and determination of Clostridium perfringens

Summary A method for the isolation and determination of small numbers of vegetative cells or spores of Clostridium perfringen has been developed based on enrichment under anaerobic conditions in a fluid thioglycollate medium without dextrose, containing 400 g of D-cycloserine/ml at 46°C for 18 h (PEM). It allows virtually complete recovery of vegetative cells of all strains of Clostridium perfringens tested, whereas facultative anaerobes present in food are inhibited. Undamaged Clostridium perfringens spores can also be detected by this procedure. After enrichment, isolation of Clostriduum perfringens is carried out on iron sulphite agar at 46°C for 18 h. Typical black colonies are picked and confirmed by the following tests: neutralization of the -toxin by a specific diagnostic antiserum and absence of indole, motility, and ability to liquify gelatin.     

Prevalence of Enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens in Meats in San Luis,Argentina

Clostridium perfringens is an important pathogen agent causing, among other diseases, enteritis in humans and enterotoxemia in domestic animals. This bacterium can produce more than 15 toxins, one of which is its enterotoxin (CPE), that causes human food poisoning. The aim of this work was (i) to determine the prevalence of C. perfringens in some non-industrial meat foods in San Luis, Argentina, (ii) to characterize the C. perfringens enterotoxigenic strains by PCR, RPLA and the slide reverse passive latex agglutination test, (iii) to type the C. perfringens strains isolated and identification by PCR and (iv) to develop a slide RPLA test. A total of 515 samples of meat food (315 fresh sausages, 100 hamburgers and 100 samples of minced meat) were studied. A 126 C. perfringens strains (24.46%) were isolated and characterized. Of these C. perfringens -positive samples, 48 contained counts higher than 2 log/g. No significant differences were observed between counts performed in iron–milk medium and tryptose–sulfite–cycloserine agar (r= 0.99). Twelve samples (9.52%) exhibited counts with MPN >5log bacteria/g. Modified Tórtora medium (Tm) with thiotone replaced by proteose peptone turned out to be the most useful medium for both sporulation and enterotoxin production. Of the 126 samples tested by PCR and RPLA, nine strains (7.14%) were enterotoxigenic. Similar results were obtained by Slide RPLA, which exhibited a sensitivity of 8 ng/mL. Of the 126 C. perfringens strains , 123 were of type A (97.20%), two were of type C (1.59%) and one of type E (0.79%). All enterotoxigenic strains were classified as type A.     

Comparative Study of Two Methods for Detection of Clostridium perfringens in Ground Beef

The tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine agar pour plate method was superior to selective enrichment in liquid sulfite medium for isolation of small numbers of Clostridium perfringens from frozen ground beef.     

Abilities of the mCP Agar Method and CRENAME Alpha Toxin-Specific Real-Time PCR Assay To Detect Clostridium perfringens Spores in Drinking Water

We first determined the analytical specificity and ubiquity (i.e., the ability to detect all or most strains) of a Clostridium perfringens-specific real-time PCR (rtPCR) assay based on the cpa gene (cpa rtPCR) by using a bacterial strain panel composed of C. perfringens and non-C. perfringens Clostridium strains. All non-C. perfringens Clostridium strains tested negative, whereas all C. perfringens strains tested positive with the cpa rtPCR, for an analytical specificity and ubiquity of 100%. The cpa rtPCR assay was then used to confirm the identity of 116 putative C. perfringens isolates recovered after filtration of water samples and culture on mCP agar. Colonies presenting discordant results between the phenotype on mCP agar and cpa rtPCR were identified by sequencing the 16S rRNA and cpa genes. Four mCP⁻/rtPCR⁺ colonies were identified as C. perfringens, whereas 3 mCP⁺/rtPCR⁻ colonies were identified as non-C. perfringens. The cpa rtPCR was negative with all 51 non-C. perfringens strains and positive with 64 of 65 C. perfringens strains. Finally, we compared mCP agar and a CRENAME (concentration and recovery of microbial particles, extraction of nucleic acids, and molecular enrichment) procedure plus cpa rtPCR (CRENAME + cpa rtPCR) for their abilities to detect C. perfringens spores in drinking water. CRENAME + cpa rtPCR detected as few as one C. perfringens CFU per 100 ml of drinking water sample in less than 5 h, whereas mCP agar took at least 25 h to deliver results. CRENAME + cpa rtPCR also allows the simultaneous and sensitive detection of Escherichia coli and C. perfringens from the same potable water sample. In itself, it could be used to assess the public health risk posed by drinking water potentially contaminated with pathogens more resistant to disinfection.     

Quantitation of Clostridium perfringens in Foods

A procedure is described for identifying and enumerating Clostridium perfringens in foods by means of a simplified agar plating method, followed by confirmation of black colonies in tubes of motility-nitrate medium and sporulation broth. The test is routinely completed within 48 hr. Under experimental conditions, the procedure has been used to quantitatively recover various levels of C. perfringens contamination in a variety of foods and has recovered as few as ten C. perfringens per g without interference from food constituents and associated flora. Under practical conditions of field application, the method has been used to investigate five food-poisoning outbreaks, and C. perfringens was implicated as the etiological agent in two of these outbreaks.     

Agar Underlay Method for Recovery of Sublethally Heat-Injured Bacteria

A method of recovering sublethally heat-injured bacteria was developed. The procedure (termed the agar underlay method) uses a nonselective agar underlaid with a selective medium. In a two-chambered petri dish, the Lutri plate (LP), a nonselective agar is inoculated with a population of sublethally heat-injured bacteria. After a 2-h repair incubation period, selective agar is added to the bottom chamber of the LP and incubated. By diffusing through the nonselective top agar, selective agents from the underlay medium impart selectivity to the system. By the agar underlay method, recovery rates of the heat-injured food-borne pathogens Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhimurium were not different (P > 0.05) from recovery rates determined with nonselective media. Sublethally heat-injured cells (60°C for 1.5 min in buffer or 80°C for 30 s on meat surfaces) grew and produced a typical colony morphology and color reaction when the agar underlay procedure was used with the appropriate respective selective agars. Unlike agar overlay methods for injury repair, the agar underlay procedure allows the typical selective-medium colony morphology to develop and allows colonies to be more easily picked for further characterization. Higher recovery rates of heat-injured fecal enterococci from bovine fecal samples and total coliforms from animal waste lagoons were obtained by the agar underlay method with selective agars than by direct plating on the respective selective media.     

MINIATURIZED ANAEROBIC CULTIVATION METHODS FOR RECOVERY OF CLOSTRIDIUM SPOROGENES FROM MEAT

Two new miniaturized methods (sandwiched microtiter plate [SMP] and mini-tube) for recovery of Clostridium sporogenes from food samples were developed and evaluated. One hundred microliter of SFP (Shahidi Ferguson Perfringens) agar and 10 üL of diluted food sample were used in the SMP anaerobic system. The samples were sandwiched between two sterile microtiter plates to create an anaerobic environment. Black colonies in the sandwiched wells were counted as C. sporogenes. In case of mini-tube system, 1 mL of SFP agar (45C) containing diluted food sample was aspirated into a 1.2 mL sterile pipet and allowed to solidify in place. The two ends are sealed to create an anaerobic environment. Black colonies were counted directly through the plastic tube. C. sporogenes was inoculated into ground beef samples for recovery study. The recovery rates in SFP agar, using the SMP and mini-tube method were compared with the double-tube method. Organisms were recovered more in the double-tube than with SMP method and mini-tube method after 24–30 h incubation. However, the final counts at 48 h were similar in all methods from the food samples. These new simple methods have potential use for recovery of Clostridium spp.     

Comparison of Agar Dilution and Broth Microdilution Methods of Anaerobic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing using Several Veterinary Antibiotics against Clostridium perfringens Strains Originating from Porcine and Avian Sources

A broth microdilution and a reference agar dilution method was used to determine minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of five veterinary antimicrobials when tested against 96 animal-derived and six American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) strains of Clostridium perfringens. These antimicrobials [bacitracin methylenedisalicylate (bacitracin-MD), tylosin, virginiamycin, erthromycin and tetracycline] are approved for use in animal feed at different levels for growth enhancement, control, and treatment of a variety of enteric diseases. For bacitracin-MD, MICs were higher using the broth microdilution method when compared to the agar dilution method. The two methods had the lowest agreement when using bacitracin-MD compared to the method agreements of other antimicrobials tested (only 34.3% of the C. perfringens tested within ±1 doubling dilution). Tylosin MICs were lower by the broth microdilution method but had better agreement between methods with 75.5% of the C. perfringens tested within ±1 doubling dilution. Good correlation between methods was found for virginiamycin, tetracycline, and erythromycin with 85.3, 76.5, 81.4% of the C. perfringens tested within ±1 doubling dilution, respectively. Differences in susceptibility to individual antimicrobials were found among the avian and porcine strains by both methods. For avian strains, bacitracin-MD, tylosin, and erthromycin MIC₉₀values had differences of at least four doubling dilutions between methods. There were biases toward higher bacitracin-MD and lower tylosin and erythromycin MIC₉₀values using the broth microdilution method. MIC₉₀values against porcine and ATCC strains were more comparable between methods for all five antimicrobials than those generated against avian strains but the biases were still present. Most animal-derived strains were inhibited by approved livestock feed levels of the antimicrobials. Caution should be used when evaluating the potential effectiveness of feed-based antimicrobials against C. perfringens when results are generated using an in vitro test that may not be in agreement with the reference agar dilution method.     

Evaluation of two media for the membrane filtration enumeration of Clostridium perfringens from water

Two media (mCP medium and Tryptose Sulphite Cycloserine (TSC) agar) were evaluated for recovery of Clostridium perfringens in environmental and part-treated drinking water. For laboratory strains of Clostridium , mCP was more selective and specific for Cl. perfringens than TSC, but was markedly less efficient for the enumeration of both vegetative cells and spores. For samples of river water and part-treated drinking water, TSC recovered significantly greater numbers of Cl. perfringens than mCP. In contrast to previous reports, there was a significant number of false presumptive positive and negative isolates on mCP. TSC is a more suitable medium for the routine monitoring of water supplies for the presence of Cl. perfringens .     

Evaluation of several selective media for recovery of Aeromonas hydrophila from polluted waters

Eleven media were studied for their suitability in the selective isolation of Aeromonas hydrophila. Preliminary results showed that five of them (inositol-brilliant green-bile salts agar, bile salts-brilliant green agar, Rimler-Shotts agar, xylose-sodium deoxycholate-citrate agar, and dextrin-fuchsin-sulfite agar) allowed the growth of several microorganisms that are usually present in the same samples in which A. hydrophila is found. Six media (mA agar, modified Rimler-Shotts agar, DNase-toluidine blue-ampicillin agar, Pril-xylose-ampicillin agar, MacConkey-trehalose agar, and starch-bile salts agar) were selected for evaluation as recovery selective media on the basis of their efficiency in the isolation of A. hydrophila from natural water samples. mA agar showed the best recovery rate and also an acceptable specificity, but its selectivity was low. Another medium that can be considered is DNase-toluidine blue-ampicillin agar, which showed good accuracy, but its specificity was low.