Experimental Studies on Toxin Production ofClostridium BotulinumPart I

The process of toxin production was investigated withClostridium botulinumtype A, strain 190 and type B, strain Lamanna, both belonging to the proteolytic group ofClostridium botulinum. In theformer, no increase in the toxicity was observed after the trypsin treatment. However, in the latter, the toxicity increased by about 10 to 100 times with trypsin even in the late stage of incubation.2. The similar experiments were carried out withClostridium botulinumtype C, strain Stockholm, and type E, strain VH, both belonging to the non-proteolytic group ofClostridium botulinum. In the former, no distinct increase in the toxicity was observed after the trypsin treatment. Onthe contrary, the toxicity increased by about 100 to 1, 000 times with trypsin in the latter.3. The activation phenomenon ofClostridinum botulinumtoxin by trypsin seems to have no direct relationship with the proteolytic character of the strain.