PCR detection of Clostridium perfringens producing different toxins in faeces of goats

Abstract

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify the genes encoding the major toxins of Clostridium perfringens in faeces of goats. When pure cultures of Cl. perfringens types A, B, C, D and E were used as templates in the PCR, amplicons were observed on the agarose gel as bands at approximately the 247 (alpha primers), 1025 (beta primers), 403 (epsilon primers) and 298 (iota primers) bp level of the DNA marker. When used to identify different types of Cl. perfringens in samples artificially spiked with these micro-organisms, the]PCR detected as few as 1-1.5 x 102 cfu g-1 of the five types of Cl. perfringens tested. The PCR technique allowed the identification and typing of Cl. perfrin..