title: Binding of Clostridium perfringens to collagen correlates with the ability to cause necrotic enteritis in chickens.
abstract: This study investigated the ability of Clostridium perfringens isolates derived from chickens to bind to collagen types I-V and gelatin. In total 21 strains from three distinct backgrounds were studied: (i) virulent strains isolated from birds suffering from necrotic enteritis, (ii) avirulent strains isolated from birds suffering from necrotic enteritis and (iii) strains isolated from healthy birds. All strains isolated from diseased birds had been assessed for virulence in a disease induction model. The virulent isolates all displayed collagen binding ability. However, most strains in the other two classes showed negligible binding to collagen. The prevalence of a previously described C. perfringens putative collagen adhesin-encoding gene was investigated by PCR screening. It was found that five of the strains carried the putative collagen adhesin-encoding gene and that all of these strains were virulent isolates. Based on these studies it is postulated that collagen adhesion may play a role in the pathogenesis of necrotic enteritis.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Biosecurity Flagship, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia; Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Ben.Wade@csiro.au.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wade
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Biosecurity Flagship, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia; Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Anthony.Keyburn@csiro.au.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Keyburn
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: Torsten.Seemann@monash.edu.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Julian.Rood@monash.edu.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Rood
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Biosecurity Flagship, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia; Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia. Electronic address: Rob.Moore@rmit.edu.au.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000662:veterinary*; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism*; D004751:Enteritis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Adhesin; Adhesion; Clostridium perfringens; Collagen; Necrotic enteritis; Poultry