Clostridium perfringens TAMU

Necrotic enteritis (NE) in chickens is caused by pathogenic Clostridium perfringens (CP) strains clonally expanded from CP population in a normal gut microbiota by the presence of predisposing factors. The high incidence of morbidity and mortality due to NE causes annual loss of 6 billion U.S. dollars globally. Currently, clear understanding on how predisposing factors in the gut faciliate selective proliferation of pathogenic CP strains leading to gross damage to the gut epithelium is lacking, hampering development of effective control measures. We have used the CP TAMU srain to develop chicken challenge model of NE, which has been used to evaluate various intervention strategies to reduce NE pathogenesis. The draft genome sequence of CP TAMU strain will be comparatively analyzed with the genome sequences of other CP isolates to gain insights on the characteristics genetic features of this strain that are associated with NE pathogenesis. Additionally, the draft genome sequence of CP TAMU strain will be used to faciliate functional genomic analysis of this strain for virulence factors associated with NE pathogenesis using transposon sequencing analysis in chicken challenge model of NE.