Effect of zinc and calcium ions on the production of alpha-toxin and proteases by Clostridium perfringens

Abstract

Clostridium perfringens produced at least three distinct proteases in a synthetic medium containing calcium. Two of them, thiol and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt-sensitive proteases, appeared at an early stage of growth, but the other one, perhaps being identical to the one produced in a calcium-deficient medium, appeared at a late stage. The production of these proteases depended on Ca2+ but not on Zn2+ in the medium. Alpha-toxin, perhaps being a zinc-containing metalloenzyme, was rather resistant to the proteases, but toxin, produced in a zinc-deficient medium or deprived of zinc with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt, was very sensitive. By adding Zn2+, the toxin lacking zinc may have been converted to the zinc-containing metalloprotein that is resistant to proteases. This may explain why alpha-toxin activity increased progressively in a zinc-containing medium in spite of simultaneous production of potent proteases and why it disappeared rapidly in a zinc-deficient medium.