Identification of Clostridium perfringens by 16S and 23S rRNA Oligonucleotide Probes

The published 16S rRNA sequence of Clostridium perfringens [Gamier et al. (1991] was compared to the 16S rRNA database of Clostridium species and two C. perfringens-specific oligonucleotide probes were developed. In addition, the 23S rDNA of C. perfringens was partially sequenced and used to design a third oligonucleotide probe. The specificity of the probes was determined by dot blot hybridisation using crude rRNA from several strains of each C. perfringens type, Gram-positive representatives of various genera and Escherichia coli. All probes were specific for C. perfringens but one 16S rRNA probe failed to detect all of the C. perfringens strains tested. Using the polymerase chain reaction technology in combination with a nonradioactive hybridisation assay the identification of isolated DNA from pure cultures of C. perfringens that express the whole range of C. perfringens toxin types was achieved within a few hours