Production and characterization of Clostridium perfringens "bursting factor"

Fredette, V. (University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada), A. Forget, and G. Vinet. Production and characterization of Clostridium perfringens "bursting factor." J. Bacteriol. 83:1177-1182. 1962.-Virulent cultures of Clostridium perfringens in which none of the presently known toxic or enzymatic fractions could be detected either in vitro or in vivo were shown to contain "bursting factor." This new antigen, although devoid of toxicity, exerts a triggerlike or aggressinlike action on washed perfringens bacilli, a characteristic which sets it apart from collagenase or kappa-toxin with which it could have been confused previously. Pathogenesis of C. perfringens gas gangrene can therefore be explained more satisfactorily with the "bursting factor" than with any previously known fraction from the filtrates of these cultures.