CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ENTEROTOXIN-NEGATIVE, CYTOTOXIN-POSITIVE STRAIN OF CLOSTRIDIUM-SORDELLII

In ileal loop assay, ELISA and anion-exchange column chromatography, C lostridium sordellii strain 6018 was shown to produce a cytotoxin, but no detectable enterotoxin, DNA sequence and polymerase chain reaction analyses indicated that the lack of enterotoxin activity is not due t o a lack of gene transcription, but to lack of a major portion of the enterotoxin gene, This is the first characterisation of such a strain.