Prevalence of netB gene among clostridium perfringens isolates obtained from healthy and diseased chickens

Abstract

Necrotic Enteritis (NE) is the most clinically dramatic bacterial enteric disease of poultry induced by C. perfringens that affects industrial poultry worldwide. C. perfringens produces a large range of potent toxins that are responsible for severe diseases in humans and animals. The critical importance of netB, the recently identified pore-forming toxin for the development of NE is still under discussion. In this study C. perfringens isolates from healthy and diseased poultry flocks were analyzed by PCR in order to determine the presence of The netB for the first time in Asia. The netB was detected in 52.8% isolates from diseased flocks but not in any isolates from healthy ones. The products of four positive netB PCR reactions were sequenced. Comparison of the isolates sequences revealed 100% identity to each other and to the netB sequences available in GenBank. netB can not be the only C. perfringens virulence factor involved inNE, since not all C. perfringens isolates from birds associated with NE contain the netB gene. However, further investigations are required to determine the role of netB in development of NE. © Medwell Journals, 2011.