Lecithinase (Alpha Toxin) Activity Of Strains Of Clostridium Perfringens

Lecithinase activity was determined for 8 strains of type A C. perfringens isolated from various sources. The 3 classical infectious strains of C. perfringens with spores of low heat resistance produced high lecithinase activity. In general, there was an inverse relationship between lecithinase activity and heat resistance of the spores. However, strains that produced high lecithinase activity had wider ranges and greater standard deviation values than strains with low levels of lecithinase.