Bacteriocin susceptibility of Clostridium perfringens: a provisional typing schema

Ninety-four strains of Clostridium perfringens were examined for bacteriocin production. Bacteriocins produced by ten of these strains were selected for typing 274 cultures of C. perfringens. The bacteriocins were prepared by growing the producer strains in broth and precipitating the active principle from the supernatant fluids of centrifuged cultures with ammonium sulfate. All bacteriocins were titrated against a common indicator strain, adjusted to equivalent titers, and spotted onto blood agar plates seeded with the test organisms. Fifty different bacteriocin sensitivity patterns were observed. These patterns were organized into seven groups bearing some relationship, and the largest number of strains falling into any one pattern did not exceed 16% of the total strains tested. Ninety-nine percent of all isolates were typable. The new method should prove useful in studies where strains must be fingerprinted.