Genome sequencing of Clostridium perfringens strains carrying a novel binary enterotoxin gene bec

BEC-producing Clostridium perfringens is a causative agent of foodborne gastroenteritis first reported in 2014. Since then, a total of nine isolates have been identified in Japan and the United Kingdom. Although 211 assembled genomes of C. perfringens have been reported, only one of them is bec-harboring strain isolated from the UK. This lack of knowledge prevents the whole-genome level comparisons of different BEC-producing isolates, which is crucial for understanding the detailed genomic epidemiology of its pathogenicity. In this study, we determined the completed genome sequences of five bec-harboring C. perfringens strains isolated during 2009-2019 in Japan.